


Lonely As The Night

by Hayfieldmc



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: AU, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:10:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5006038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hayfieldmc/pseuds/Hayfieldmc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - After sixteen years of absence Robert Sugden returns to Emmerdale. Aaron is shocked to come face to face with the man that has been haunting his dreams ever since he was a little kid, a man that seemingly hasn’t aged a single day since.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new story! It's gonna be a multiple chapter story. 
> 
> This story is based on the following prompt: Emmerdale is full of supernatural creatures, Aaron's the only human in the village and feels out of place. Robert is a vampire. He knows Aaron is his soulmate and he seduces him. He completes the mate bond by having sex and feeding on Aaron at the same time, marking Aaron as his mate. Over the weeks Robert shares more and more blood with Aaron and Aaron becomes addicted to Robert's blood, not realising that Robert is slowly turning him into a vampire so they can be together and have hot vamp sex.
> 
> I've made a few changes here and there, but they will become clear as the story continues. I've to admit that I've never written a vampire story, but there's a first time for everything right?! Enjoy!

There had been talk about it all day Iong. Apparently home farm was no longer uninhabited, someone had bought the property and was moving in soon. Others said that it wasn't a new buyer at all, but that it was the same owner that had disappeared under mysterious circumstances sixteen years ago. Aaron wasn't sure what to believe and he honestly didn't care much, but for some reason the thought about that new resident stuck with him. It almost annoyed him that he felt interested in town gossip, but he found himself listening curiously every time someone mentioned something about it. Usually not much happened in his kind of dull life. He was 23 years old and he was still living with his mother. He worked at the garage like he’d done for the last two years now and not much was happening on the relationship front either, so it was a nice change to have something to think about during work. Home Farm had been deserted for as long as he could remember. Someone had apparently lived there when he was still a little kid, but that was at least sixteen years ago now. These days no one dared to set foot in that place, not after what had happened there all those years ago, though no one was really sure what exactly had happened. And the few who did know something never spoke about it. All Aaron knew was that you stayed as far away from Home Farm as you possibly could. 

But as the day passed Aaron forgot about it, too caught up in the work that needed to be done, now that Debbie was on maternity leave. It wasn't until he came home that evening that he heard something about it again. 

It had been a long and tiring day. He’d worked a ten hour shift and he was exhausted. He was still wearing his overalls and his hands were covered in grease stains because he hadn’t bothered to clean them up. He entered through the front door of the house and moved towards the stairs to quickly take a shower before dinner when he caught some words spoken by Chas. “Yeah, I’m sure he’s moving back here. They’re preparing Home Farm already, I heard he’ll move back here in a week or so.”

“I can barely believe it,” he heard Paddy say to her. “Robert Sugden moving back here after all those years.”

Aaron froze when he caught the name and glanced towards the door curiously. Robert Sugden. The name sounded vaguely familiar, although Aaron had no idea why. He couldn’t recall ever hearing the name before. By the sounds of it his mother and Paddy actually knew this man. His curiosity got spiked and he moved over to the door. Though for some reason, he wasn’t really sure why, he felt like he shouldn’t interrupt their conversation. So instead of stepping inside Aaron moved closer to the door without making any sound. He was close enough to overhear their conversation clearly and he knew they wouldn’t realize he was there if he made no sound. He was glad he’d been quiet when he stepped inside. 

“Why do you think he’s coming back?” Paddy asked Chas softly. 

It was silent for a few seconds and he could hear sounds of someone standing up or sitting down. “I really don’t know. I honestly was glad that he disappeared sixteen years ago.” Aaron frowned his forehead and leaned one hand against the doorframe to hold his weight as he brought his head closer to the door to catch Chas’ words. “It would have been better if he stayed away.”

They didn’t speak again for so long that Aaron was already moving to go upstairs when Paddy’s question stopped him in his tracks, alarm bells going off in his head when he heard the words that the man that was like a father to him spoke. “Do you think Aaron remembers anything?” he asked, his voice so quiet that Aaron could barely hear him. 

Aaron was overcome with the sudden temptation to open the door to ask them what the hell was going on and who this Robert Sugden was. But at the same time chills ran down his spine as he felt the unexpected need to walk away from this conversation as quickly as possible. 

He was filled with a strange feeling, one he hadn’t had in years, and he felt himself unable to move, frozen to the ground as he was overcome by the memory of the most beautiful yet terrifying eyes he’d ever seen. He shivered and pushed the memory to the back of his mind like he’d done for as many years as he could remember. 

“I don’t know,” Chas said at the other side of the door. “He’s never spoken about it. And I never asked him either, I just hoped that he’d forgotten that it ever happened.”

Aaron was completely confused. He didn’t understand what they were talking about and what this Robert Sugden could possibly have to do with him. As far as he knew he’d never even heard that name, but then why did it sound so familiar, like he’d heard it before? Why did it fill him with this mix of emotions, emotions he didn’t understand? By now he’d his fingers clenched around the doorpost, his hands almost shaking, his body filled with tension. 

“Do you think we should tell Aaron about him?” Paddy asked, Aaron could hear the uncertainty in his voice. 

He didn’t have to see Chas to know that she was shaking her head. “I don’t see why. We should pretend that it’s no big deal, that way Aaron won’t think much of it either.”

Aaron clenched his teeth together and decided that he was just about done with this conversation. He quietly walked back to the front door and silently opened it before closing it with a slam. He could hear Chas and Paddy fall silent and Aaron sighed before he opened the door to the main room of the house. “Evening,” he greeted as he stepped into the living room. 

They were both sitting on the couch. Chas greeted him with a smile, her face not revealing that she’d just been talking about him, in contrast to Paddy who was looking guilty, his cheeks pink. Aaron ignored them and walked over to the kitchen to get himself a drink. When he turned back with a cold beer in his hands, Chas and Paddy were both looking at him and he realized that Chas had asked him a question. 

“What?” Aaron snapped. For some reason the overheard conversation had made him crackly. It wasn’t the first time he’d overheard Chas and Paddy talking about him, but their conversation had put him on edge, because unlike usually they were keeping something from him, but Aaron had no idea what. 

“How was work?” Chas asked, oddly patient considering that she had to repeat the question. 

“Fine,” Aaron grunted. He moved his eyes to catch Paddy’s gaze, but the older man was avoiding looking at him and Aaron could barely hold back a snicker because of how bad Paddy was in hiding secrets. “Anything interesting happened while I was at work?” Aaron asked nonchalantly as he sat down in one of the stairs standing close to the couch. 

Chas shook her head. “No, not really.” Paddy made an odd sound and when both Chas and Aaron looked at him he quickly picked up his glass of water and gulped it down. 

Aaron decided to ignore him and raised his eyebrows at his mother. “Really? I thought you would have heard that somebody is moving into Home Farm, it seemed to be pretty big news.”

Paddy’s eyes almost bulged out of his head as he started couching after choking on his water. Chas narrowed her eyes at him before returning her attention to Aaron. I’ve heard some rumors, but nothing big honestly. People move here all the time.” 

Aaron snorted. “They really don’t.”

“Yes they do, Emma has moved here not long ago.”

“That was almost a year ago mom.”

“Has it really been that long?” his mother responded. He would have been convinced that she was really surprised if he hadn’t known any better. His mother was a good liar. 

Aaron could barely suppress the rolling of his eyes. He put his half drank bottle of beer down on the table. He knew he wasn’t gonna get anything out of her and wasn’t sure if he wanted to know either way. “I’m gonna take a shower, let me know when dinner is ready. “

“Sure,” Chas said. 

Aaron moved out of the room and couldn’t suppress his annoyance when he heard them start talking again as soon as he closed the door behind him, but this time he didn’t wait and listen. 

He showered, ate dinner and watched some TV with Chas in the evening. There was some news about a human who had killed a high ranked vampire and had finally been captured and put behind bars. It was the only part of the news that managed to hold his interest. He’d grown up with the knowledge that vampires roamed this earth. He’d learned to fear them and show them respect from a very young age. When he was younger, the vampires had been an illegal part of society, one that wasn’t acknowledged or talked about. They had been legally accepted a part of society around the time he was ten. He remembered what a mess it had been before then, how many fights and deaths there had been of both humans and vampires. After the vampires had become a legal part of this world, everything had gotten better. You still heard about a murder or some attack every now and then, but it was way less than it had been before the legalization. 

As much as he heard and learned about vampires ever since he’s young, he’d never actually met one. There were no vampires in Emmerdale and although he’d seen one or two from a distance when he was in the city, he’d never actually spoken to one. Chas had raised him to fear vampires, she’d always told him they were not to be trusted and so he’d never actively searched out one, but some part of Aaron had always had an odd fascination for the creatures. 

Later that night, as he lay in bed, he found his mind returning to that name. Robert Sugden. He didn’t know why he couldn’t let it go, why his mind kept returning to it. It shouldn’t mean anything to him, but for some reason it did, and feeling like that annoyed him. 

Aaron knew that it wasn’t likely that he was gonna fall asleep, he was restless and kept tossing and turning, but at some point he managed to fall asleep, the name of that man still on the forefront of his thoughts. 

His dreams were filled with cold eyes and sharp, white teeth. He could see a dark figure in the distance, but every time he thought he’d come close enough to get a good look at the man’s face, he suddenly disappeared out of sight. It wasn’t the first time he’d this dream, the image of this person had been haunting his dreams for years. To Aaron it felt like he’d always been there, in the back of his mind. Aaron didn’t know what he looked like, all he ever saw of him was a distant silhouette and sometimes he caught a glimpse of stark, cold eyes, eyes that had always terrified him. 

Aaron wasn’t sure what woke him up, all that he knew was that he was suddenly sitting upright in bed. His heart was pounding against his chest and his breathing was irregular. He was filled with a need, a desire to get out of bed, but he didn’t know where it came from. Aaron wiped the sweat from his forehead, for a moment trying to resist that strange temptation, but he found that it was impossible, it felt like something or someone was calling for him. 

He didn’t actively make the decision to get out of bed, but suddenly he found himself moving. He pulled on his clothes from yesterday and slipped into his shoes before silently moving downstairs to get outside. When he closed the front door behind him he was hit by the cold, it seeped into his bones and he crossed his arms tight against his body as he started walking. For a second he glanced at his car, but something made him decide against it. Instead he knew that he needed to do this by foot. 

Aaron wasn’t sure where exactly he was going, but his feet let the way, they let him to wherever he needed to be. It was like he was half asleep, like he was dreaming and maybe he was. Maybe that was the only logical explanation, why else would he go outside in the middle of the night and walk to an unknown destination? He was just filled with the need to do this, like there was nothing more important in the world than getting there as quickly as possible, wherever there was.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed before his feet suddenly paused and he woke out of his daze, the strange desire leaving his body and leaving him out in the cold, shivering and completely awake. 

At first Aaron had no idea where he was, it must be the middle of the night and he couldn’t see a damn thing. It was only when he dared to look up that he started to realize where he was. A shiver that wasn’t due to the cold ran down his body as it became clear to him where his feet had brought him and he cursed out loud. 

A large house was looming over him, a house he’d never seen before, but recognized immediately. He was at Home Farm. 

The house looked too big and too dark. Fear was slowly dripping through his demeanor and he pushed his hands into his pockets, the need arising to get away from here as quickly as he could. What was he doing here? Why had he felt the need to come here? The only logical explanation was that he’d been spending too much time thinking about this place and because of this, his stupid unconscious had led him here. Though Aaron didn’t understand why, because as far as he knew he’d never sleepwalked before. 

He just knew that he needed to get away from here. Now. 

Aaron turned around and came face to face with a man that definitely hadn’t been there one minute ago. 

Aaron screamed, tripped over his own feet and would have fallen on his ass if a two hands hadn’t caught him by his arms before he could hit the ground. The hands were cold even through Aaron’s jacket and Aaron shivered under the touch as he was pulled upright by two strong hands. The first thing Aaron saw was a black jacket and as Aaron lifted his gaze, he was met with stark, cold eyes that looked at him with distant amusement. Aaron was overcome with shock as his mind registered the familiar eyes immediately. It were the same eyes that had been haunting his dreams for as long as he could remember. “You…” Aaron stammered, his heart beating rapidly against his chest. 

The man smiled in obvious amusement, revealing his blinking white teeth. “Aaron, It’s a pleasure to finally meet you again.”


	2. Chapter 2

A whoosh of cold air made Aaron’s jacket ruffle. It made him aware of how cold he was and that he was outside in the middle of the night. He was still looking up in those stark, cold eyes. The lips of the man were still turned up into a small smile. He was tall, Aaron had to slightly tip his head back to be able to look him in the eye. His golden blonde hair was moving in the wind and though he was wearing a thin, black jacket, the man didn’t seem to be affected by the cold. He’d strong, sharp features and Aaron became strongly aware that the man, still holding onto his arms, was very beautiful.

How could he feel like he knew this man? While at the same time he was sure he’d never seen him before? Nothing made sense to him right now. It felt like his brain wasn’t working, like there was a black hole in the part of his memories where all the answers to his questions should lay.

“How do you mean, again?” Aaron asked roughly, his lips were tingling because of the cold and his mouth was dry. “I don’t know you. I’m pretty sure I would remember it if we met before.”

“Are you really sure Aaron?” The way the man spoke his name, like it was as familiar to him as his own name. “Because you don’t sound convinced.”

He wasn't sure, of course he wasn't. How could he be when the eyes of this man were more familiar to him than his own? He couldn’t explain it and that’s what snapped him from confusion to anger in merely a second. “I don’t know what kind of joke you’re trying to pull, but we’ve never met before!”

There was a flash of a smirk and the light raising of an eyebrow. “There’s no need to get upset.”

“Yeah, cause I have no reason to be upset at all,” Aaron snapped, his tone sarcastic and harsh. Being close to this man put him on edge like he hadn’t been in a very long time. In addition it was goddamn cold and he was outside in the middle of the night while he should be lying in his bed right now. It had been a long day and he could feel the exhaustion settle in his bones.

A particular cold gust of wind made Aaron shiver and he wrapped his arms tighter across his body. He could feel the man look at him. “Come with me, you’re freezing up.” Before Aaron had the chance to say anything, one of the man’s hands had slid down from his arms to encircle his wrist. One of his fingers grazed the skin of Aaron’s pulse and Aaron could feel his skin tingle where the man touched him. His fingers were as cold as the night itself. There was a small tug to his arm before he got pulled along.

The man walked with long, elegant strides while Aaron stumbled after him. “Wait! Hold up,” Aaron snapped, he almost had to run to keep up with the man. “I’m not going inside with you.”

The man paused instantly and Aaron could just avoid slamming into his back. The man turned to face Aaron with a small frown on his forehead. “Aren’t you cold?” he asked, there was a small flicker of doubt in his voice. It was the first time that Aaron had seen him show any other emotion than amusement.

“Well, yeah,” Aaron admitted, slightly unnerved because of the question. “But I don’t know you and I’m not stupid enough to just go into some stranger’s house. How can I be sure that you’re not some serial-killer?”

Aaron’s words made the other man smirk quickly, the man seemed to find him quite amusing, though Aaron had no idea why.

The man was still holding his wrist, so Aaron pulled his hand loose when he realized that he was letting a complete stranger touch him, while most days he barely let his family or friends close enough to touch. Aaron had the distinct feeling that he could only pull his wrist loose because the other man let him.

The man, Aaron figured this had to be this Robert Sugden everyone had been talking about, was still staring at him. It made Aaron feel uneasy and for some reason his cheeks turned slightly red.  
“What made you come here Aaron?” the man asked suddenly.

When Aaron dared to look up he was met with a now serious expression, the earlier amusement gone. “Nothing,” Aaron said slowly, rubbing his hands together to try and get them warm. “I was just going for a walk.” It was a weak lie.

“Right,” the man drawled, he didn’t sound convinced. “You take walks in the middle of night often?” His tone was mocking.

“Oh, fuck you,” Aaron snarled. He hated it when people made fun of him, especially strangers in the middle of the night. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. And may I remind you, that I’m not the only one outside right now!”

The man arched an eyebrow, Aaron’s angry tone didn’t seem to bother him at all, in fact he seemed to find every single thing Aaron said highly entertaining. Aaron decided that he disliked the guy. For some reason this man, or at least his eyes, had been part of Aaron’s dreams since forever, but he was arrogant and he kept laughing at Aaron.

“I don’t remember you being this snarky,” the man noted as he narrowed his eyes at Aaron, looking at him thoughtfully.

That last sentence was more than Aaron could take. It must at least be three in the morning, he was outside at some house whilst he could barely remember how he got here and now some guy was acting like he knew him, he even knew his name. While Aaron had no remembrance of him, apart from some vague images from his dreams. None of this made sense and he was just about done. “Look I don’t know why you think you know me or how you know my name, but you’ve got it wrong alright! You don’t know me, I don’t know you and I would like to keep it that way.”

The man looked at him sharply, he pursed his lips like he was considering something before he said: “My name is Robert Sugden and concerning the rest, I’ll tell you all in good time.”

Aaron rubbed a hand across his face and sighed. “Whatever, I’m going home.” Aaron turned around and started walking in what he hoped was the right direction. How he’d found his way to Home Farm in a half-asleep state was something close to a miracle.

“You dreamed of me, didn’t you?” a voice in front of him said.

This time Aaron managed to hold back his scream, but only just. “Jesus, can you stop doing that?” Aaron growled. He glanced at Robert who was now standing in front of him, he looked pleased, his lips curled up into a small smile. Aaron hadn’t even heard him move.

_Wait a minute…_

Aaron glanced over his shoulder to the place Robert had stood only seconds ago and back to where he was now, standing in front of him. “How did you…?” Aaron eyes widened as he realized with who, or rather what he was dealing with.

“You’re a vampire,” Aaron breathed, in a moment of shocked realization. Unconsciously Aaron took a step back as his heart started to pound against his chest. He could feel the adrenaline start to flow through his bloodstream as he was filled with panic.

Robert raised his hands in what he must think was a peaceful gesture. “Don’t sound so disconcerting Aaron, I promise I won’t hurt you.” His voice was soft, his eyes calm and Aaron wondered how he hadn’t realize this man was a vampire as soon as he saw him. He was too beautiful to be human. His cold eyes and pale skin, the careful, perfect way he moved, like he was aware of every single part and movement of his body. There was something powerful about this man, like he could break every single bone in Aaron’s body in the blink of an eye.

_Oh my god_ , he was standing here, making conversation with a vampire. All the warnings Chas had told him as a kid were going through Aaron’s mind as he realized the danger he was in. “Right, thanks that’s a real relieve,” Aaron couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice, fear making him even bolder than usual.

The man smiled again and Aaron felt his heartbeat pick up, he just wasn’t sure if it was in fear or if it was something else entirely. “You didn’t answer my question,” Robert said as he pushed his hands back into the pockets of his jacket, he looked nonchalant, almost relaxed.

Aaron felt completely out of his debt. “I just found out you’re a vampire and you still wanna talk about that?” After the legalization of the vampires it had become illegal to drink blood from civilians. Most vampires fed through special people who willingly choose to be feeders or they got blood from the blood bank where people could donate their blood. Ever since the legalization there’d been much less victims, but from time to time you still heard about people being found in dumpsters, drained from their blood. Aaron honestly wasn’t prepared to die by the hands of a vampire. Why had he ever thought that vampires were fascinating? They were scary as hell and he never wanted to see one again.

Robert shrugged and for a second he almost looked human. “I’ve been a vampire for many years, it’s of no interest to me. You being here is a completely different matter.”

“Right, right, of course,” Aaron muttered. He didn’t understand the interest this man had in him. But in truth he didn’t understand anything that had happened this night.

“So?” Robert drawled. His low voice rippled across Aaron’s skin and made him feel…. Well it made him feel something.

“What?” Aaron murmured.

Robert was looking at him thoughtfully, the complete stillness of his body making Aaron feel like he was moving ridiculously much. Maybe he was, he’d never paid attention to it before. “Did you dream of me?”

The question made Aaron freeze before he let out an awkward laugh, rubbing a hand across his neck. “Why would you think that?” Aaron responded quickly, groaning when he heard his shrill voice. In that moment he really hated himself, why was he so bad at acting nonchalant? His awkwardness revealed everything the vampire needed to know.

Robert looked away from him, staring up at the bright moon. “In dreams you live through memories your brain may not recall once you’re awake. Dreams often mirror your deepest secrets and desires.”

Aaron waited for the vampire to continue, but after a few, long seconds of silence Aaron realized that Robert had finished talking. “Are vampires always this vague?” Aaron asked slightly annoyed. “You don’t make any sense.”

Robert glanced back at him. “I forgot how impatient your kind can be,” Robert muttered softly in a way that made Aaron wonder whether he should be offended or not.

Silence dawned on them and Aaron quickly started to feel uncomfortable as Robert stared at him unblinking. His gaze was piercing which made Aaron feel very aware of himself, it felt like the vampire was looking straight into his head. To distract himself he said he first thing that came up in his head, “So I take it you’re gonna live here now.” Aaron made a vague gesture to the major house behind him. A small part of him wondered what it looked like from the inside, but since its new habitant was a vampire, Aaron wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know. “It’s… uh nice, I guess.” And why was he making small talk? He should just get away from here as soon as he could, but he supposed that he’d no chance of leaving if the vampire didn’t want him to.

It took a moment for Robert to answer and Aaron realized there’s something close to surprise written on his face. “I’ve lived in worse places,” he answered almost thoughtfully.

Aaron wanted to ask how much worse, but he’d to yawn so he put a hand against his mouth. He was really tired, he’d to be at work again in a few hours, but he figured there was little chance that he could still catch some sleep beforehand.

“I’m keeping you from your sleep, aren’t I?” the vampire asked. “You should probably go home.”

Aaron had to blink his eyes a few times till the words got through to him. “You’re letting me go?”

Robert smirked again, it made him look dangerous. “Did you think I was gonna kill you?”

The question made Aaron feel awkward and he bit his lip. He’d indeed been thinking something of the sorts. “Maybe,” Aaron groaned silently, hoping the other wouldn’t hear him, but Robert was a vampire so of course he heard him.

When Aaron managed to pull his eyes away from the ground and meet Robert’s eyes, the man was looking at him calmly, although there was still a glint of humor in his eyes. “Go home Aaron.”  
Aaron stared at him for a few seconds longer, the beauty of this man was almost overwhelming, it made something pool warm in Aaron’s stomach though he didn’t know why. He’d so many questions he wanted to ask, but at the same time he wanted to forget this night ever happened. He nodded stiffly and passed Robert without looking at him again.

“We’ll meet again soon.” The words were brought to him by the wind, but when Aaron glanced over his shoulder to respond, the vampire was nowhere to be seen. He guessed that the legend of vampires moving as fast as the wind was true at least. He wondered what other myths about vampires were true. But maybe that was something he shouldn’t want to know.

Aaron pushed his hands into his pockets and started the walk back. His head was one big mess and he was filled with more questions than answers. He figured he’d a lot to think about, but all of it could wait for now. He was too tired to think about anything, though his brain was filled with images of the vampire’s cold eyes. But that was nothing new.

It was still dark by the time Aaron got home. He didn’t have his mobile with him so he couldn’t check the time, but he was sure it was around six in the morning. Which meant he’d to be at work in an hour and a half. Aaron didn’t have the energy to curse. He didn’t know how he was gonna make it through today, he just knew that he’d to. He could sleep once he got back from work.

When he reached the front door Aaron got the feeling that someone was watching him. He glanced over his shoulder, but there was no one to be seen. The streets were still empty, though they wouldn’t be for much longer. He put his key in the lock and opened the door. The feeling of being watched got even stronger, almost unbearable and Aaron could feel the hairs in his neck rise. He knew he wouldn’t see anyone if he looked over his shoulder, but he was sure of it, someone was watching him. Aaron wouldn’t be surprised if the vampire had followed him. Aaron just wasn’t sure if he found the thought reassuring or terrifying. Mostly he just found it annoying.

He stepped inside and closed the front door behind him, leaning against it for a moment. This night had been the strangest night ever and Aaron really didn’t know what he was supposed to think of all of it. He’d met an vampire for the first time in his life. Knowing they existed and actually talking to one, were two completely different things. And then he wasn’t even talking about the fact that it was the man out of his dreams, or nightmares, whichever you wanted to call them. The events of the night had messed with his head, but right now he just wanted to take a shower and grab some food before heading to work. If it wasn’t for the coldness of his body that told him he’d been outside for at least a few hours, he would’ve thought it had just been a dream.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late update, life is really busy at the moment. Thanks for reading! :)

A week passed and Aaron had come a long way to convincing himself that meeting Robert had just been a dream. All of it seemed too unreal to him and the whole conversation had kind of faded, he knew it had happened, but the outlines of the conversation were unclear, like it had been an actual dream. 

He spent a lot of time at the garage. Working with Ross was a great and a horrible thing at the same time. Half the time they got along great and joked around, the other half they could barely stand each other, snapping and fighting over every little thing. Ross had noticed that his mind hadn’t been on the job and he kept bugging Aaron about it, asking him who his new lover boy was while raising his eyebrows in this ridiculous way that made it hard for Aaron not to laugh. But as much as Ross was trying to get him to spill the beans, Aaron didn’t tell anyone anything about his meeting with the vampire. First of all Aaron wasn’t completely sure if he hadn’t just made it up and second of all he just didn’t want to share it with anyone. That meeting had felt like something private, something only Aaron had the right to know about. 

The first buzz of Robert Sugden moving to Emmerdale had passed, but unlike Aaron had hoped, people didn’t talk about it any less. Instead the excitement only seemed to increase as the day he would move into the village came closer. It was fairly ridiculous how obsessed people were with him, but that said a lot about how quiet this town had been in the last few months. Usually not much happened and now people had something to gossip about. Aaron thought they were pretty pathetic, but that didn’t stop him from listening in, which made him feel just as pathetic, if not more. 

But as the week passed, Robert moved to the background of his mind. He was occupied with other stuff and he was too tired to do anything but sleep once he got back from work. Most days he was lucky if he didn’t have to work longer than ten hours. 

Maybe that was why it was more of a shock the second time they met than it had been the first time. Because unlike the last time he was actually awake, but completely unprepared. 

It was a Thursday afternoon and he was working on Paddy’s car. The motor wouldn’t start anymore and Aaron was trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. By now he was lying underneath the car because he couldn't find the problem under the hood. 

Footsteps approached and he could heard Ross speak. “Aaron,” Ross said, he sounded snappy, but he did most of the time so Aaron wasn’t offended. 

“What?” Aaron groaned as he rolled himself out from under the car, taking the flashlight out of his mouth. 

Ross looked down at him, smirking and Aaron figured he probably had grease stains on his face or something like that. “I’m quickly heading down to the shops to get lunch. You need anything?”

Aaron raised his eyebrows at his colleague as he pushed himself into a sitting position with his hands. “Are you actually asking me if I need anything? Are you feeling alright? Do I need to check your temperature?”

Ross scowled at him. “Very funny. It’s a one time offer so do you need anything or not?”

“Some sandwiches would be nice,” Aaron muttered as he laid himself back down on the trolley. “Just don’t get me that disgusting salami stuff you like so much,” he added as he put the flashlight back into his mouth and rolled himself back underneath the car. 

“You just have bad taste,” Aaron heard Ross growl as his footsteps slowly faded. In less than thirty seconds they were completely gone and Aaron was relieved to be alone for a moment. Ross was particularly noisy this morning. Aaron guessed that he’d gotten laid last night because that was usually the only reason why Ross was in a good mood. 

Aaron smirked with the flashlight in his mouth as he finally found the reason for Paddy’s car problems. “Got ya,” he muttered to himself. 

He heard footsteps and had to roll his eyes, guessing that it was Ross who had somehow managed to forget his wallet once again. That happened at least three times a week. How that man had survived for the last 27 years was still something close to a miracle. “Did you seriously forget your wallet again?” Aaron asked amused as he picked up spanner to start fixing the car, somehow managing to form words around the flashlight in his mouth. “Maybe you should just tie it around your neck, that way you can’t lose it.”

“It’s bit early to start thinking about tying something around my neck, we just met after all.”

That was definitely not Ross’ voice, but Aaron recognized it immediately. Out of shock Aaron’s first bodily reaction was to sit up, which of course let to him hitting his head against the underside of the car. He groaned and the flashlight fell out of his mouth, rolling out of his reach. He managed to hold back a curse and placed his hands on the ground to push himself out from underneath the car. 

Hovering above him was the blond haired vampire. He was wearing dark jeans and a leather jacket, his choice of clothes was astoundingly human. For some reason Aaron had expected much more flashing clothes. “Did I startle you?” Robert asked as he looked down at Aaron. “My apologies.”

Aaron rubbed a hand across his forehead. “It's fine,” he sighed as he sat up on the trolley. Robert held out a hand to pull him upright, but Aaron pretended not to see it and pushed himself off the ground. “What are you doing here?” he asked once he was back on his feet. “I’m busy so unless you’ve car troubles I would like to get on with my work.” For a second he wondered what Robert was doing in Emmerdale at all, but then he realized that today was the day the vampire moved into the village.

Robert looked at him thoughtfully. “I could actually use your help,” he said with a flash of a smile. 

Aaron arched an eyebrow as he grabbed a cloth to clean his grease-stained hands. “Alright,” he said after a short moment of silence. “What can I do for you?” he could barely keep the annoyance out of his voice because he was being interrupted in the middle of his workday by the man he just couldn’t stop thinking about. Robert was even more beautiful in the light of day, his blonde hair almost gold in the sunlight and his eyes overwhelmingly blue. It made Aaron’s heart beat faster and did something strange to his insides.

Aaron realized he was staring at the vampire, staring while they were standing in bright daylight. He guessed that the legend about vampires not being able to withstand daylight was untrue. Then he remembered reading something about vampires wearing rings which protected them from daylight, so he took a quick glance at Robert’s hands, spotting a large silver ring on the ring finger of his right hand. 

“My car has been making some strange sounds, especially when I start the engine. Maybe you could take a look.”

“Sure.” Aaron looked past Robert’s shoulder to check if he saw an unfamiliar car, but he couldn't spot one. “So where is it?” Aaron asked turning his attention back to the vampire. 

Robert pushed his hands into his pockets, looking rather sheepish. “Home.”

“Right.” Aaron shook his head and tried not to roll his eyes. “You can bring it around later if you want.”

“Or you could come to my place later to look at my car,” The vampire said with a smirk, his voice like honey. “Of course I would cover all the expenses.”

Aaron couldn’t shake the feeling that Robert wasn’t talking about his car anymore. He was about to refuse, but someone spoke before he’d the chance too. “He’ll definitely be up for that. We’ve a busy schedule, but he’ll be at your place around eight,” Ross said as he draped an arm across Aaron’s shoulder. “Won’t you Aaron?” Ross grinned at him and Aaron felt the sudden the desire to hit him. Ross glanced at Robert and his grin turned into a polite smile that looked fake to Aaron, Ross didn’t know how to be polite. “We do everything we can to please our customers.” 

Aaron could see Robert’s eyes narrow lightly as soon as Ross placed his arm across Aaron’s shoulders, but it was barely noticeable and he wouldn’t have seen it if he hadn’t paid close attention to the vampire. Robert scanned Ross over quickly before he held out his hand. “Robert Sugden,” Robert said as he shook Ross’ hand. “Ross Barton,” his colleague replied. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Robert spoke, his tone contradicting his words, to Aaron he almost sounded angry, but when he glanced at Ross he realized that his colleague hadn’t heard the emotion behind the vampire’s words. Robert let go of Ross’ hand. 

Ross stared at Robert for a few seconds. “Aren’t you that guy that everyone has been talking about, the one moving into Home Farm?”

Robert raised his eyebrows, Aaron wasn’t sure if it was in amusement or if it was surprise. “Have people been talking about me?”

Aaron narrowed his eyes at the vampire, his voice sounded ridiculously innocent and Aaron was sure the fact that people were talking about him was nothing new to Robert, it just amused him. “Of course people have been talking about you, it’s not like they have anything better to do,” Aaron muttered to himself, his tone sarcastic. 

Robert shifted his attention to Aaron, his eyes softening, he’d definitely heard Aaron’s words. “I’ll see you at eight then Aaron?” It was supposed to be a question, but Robert made it sound like a demand. 

Aaron thought this was possibly the most awkward situation he’d ever been in, especially because Ross’ arm was still draped across his shoulders. “Sure,” Aaron growled in a low voice, his cheeks heating underneath Robert’s piercing stare. He could hardly tell Robert no now, not after everything Ross had said. “It’s no trouble.”

Robert gave him a quick blinding smile before he took off. Aaron couldn’t stop himself from staring at his retreating back till the vampire was out of sight. “What the hell was that?” Aaron snapped, pushing Ross’ arm from his shoulder. 

“What?” Ross looked at him innocently, but he was clearly enjoying himself. Sometimes Aaron really hated him. “You looked like you were into him and he’s clearly into you so I thought I would give you a hand before you had the chance to turn him down.” 

“I don’t need your help getting dates,” Aaron snapped. “And for the record I’m not into him.”

“You’re welcome,” Ross said with a cheeky grin, ignoring Aaron’s words completely as he walked back into the garage.

“What are you doing back so soon anyway?” Aaron asked, deciding that it was better to change the subject. Ross couldn’t have been gone for more than five minutes. Definitely not enough time to go to the store. 

“I forgot my wallet,” Ross replied over his shoulder, clearly distracted. 

Aaron snorted, of course Ross had forgot his wallet. He glanced back to the place the vampire had stood only seconds ago and sighed. He really didn’t want to go back to Home Farm a second time, but for some reason the knowledge that he would see Robert again tonight, made his heart beat faster and filled his stomach with butterflies.


	4. Chapter 4

He was actually nervous. Aaron couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous. It must’ve been at least a few years ago. 

It was a few minutes before eight and he was just about to knock on the front door of Home Farm when it opened. Robert stood in the doorway. He was wearing the same clothes as earlier, but this time he’d gotten rid of the jacket. It made him look more at ease, like he was… like he was home. “Aaron,” Robert said in greeting. 

“That was quick,” Aaron bolted out. 

When Robert simply raised an eyebrow and smiled, Aaron realized who exactly he was standing in front of and his cheeks turned warm. “Because you’re a vampire, right.” Aaron shook his head because of his own stupidity. “How could I forget.”

Robert’s eyes crinkled at the corners when his smile widened. “Do you want to come inside?”

Aaron rubbed a hand across the back of his head and shook his head. His mind had been blissfully quiet the past week, he hadn’t had any strange dreams about stark blue eyes and blinking white teeth, his sleep unusually quiet. But now that he was, once again, standing in front of the vampire, he got overflowed with images he couldn’t decipher. For some reason he felt like stepping inside of Robert’s house wouldn’t be a good idea. “Thanks, but no. I would like to get this over with,” he said quickly before his curiosity could get the better of him. 

“As you wish,” Robert replied, stepping outside. Aaron caught a glimpse of a dark corridor and some distant lighting in the back before Robert closed the door. 

“Shall we?” Robert asked. Aaron hadn’t noticed at first, but now he started to realize that Robert’s language was polite in a very old-fashioned way. Once again Aaron wondered how old the vampire really was. And how old he’d been when he changed, Aaron guessed Robert must have been in his late twenties, but he wasn’t completely sure. 

Aaron simply nodded and followed after the vampire. His first instinct was to comment on him not wearing a jacket, but then he realized that Robert probably wasn’t bothered by the cold. Robert’s footsteps were barely there, so soft that Aaron probably wouldn’t have heard them if it hadn’t been so silent outside. Meanwhile his feet were making a lot of noise and Aaron could barely stop himself from cringing every time his feet hit the ground, Robert made him annoyingly aware of himself. 

“It’s right over here,” Robert said, coming to a halt in front of what Aaron guessed was the garage. Robert pushed some buttons and the door moved upwards, revealing a blinking, white Audi that Aaron fell in love with immediately. It wasn’t often that he got his hands on a beauty like this. 

He stepped inside, passed Robert, and let his hand run over the hood, completely forgetting himself for a moment. “She’s gorgeous,” Aaron muttered in awe. 

“Gorgeous indeed,” Robert muttered, he sounded distracted and Aaron had the feeling he wasn’t talking about the car. “The car dealer recommend it, I wasn’t sure what to buy.”

“That car dealer knows where he is talking about,” Aaron said, his eyes still on the car. His hands were tingling with desire to take her for a ride. “This car must have cost you a fortune!” he added, glancing at Robert in enthusiasm.   
Robert looked at him with an expression that Aaron would call fond if he didn’t know any better. “Here are the keys,” the vampire said, throwing them in Aaron’s direction. It looked like he’d to hold himself back from throwing them harder. 

Aaron managed to catch them with his left hand and turned back to the car. “You can go back to whatever you were doing,” Aaron said while he slid into the car. “This might take a while.”

When he glanced back up, Robert had moved to the right side of the garage, casually leaning back against the wall, both his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I don’t mind waiting,” Robert spoke in a soft tone. 

“Suit yourself,” Aaron muttered, shrugging his shoulders before he turned on the engine. The motor didn’t roar to life as it usually would. Instead it kind of stuttered for a while before the engine finally started running. 

Aaron tapped his lips in thought. “Let’s have a look,” he muttered to himself as he got out of the car and popped open the hood. 

“Do you have any idea what it might be?” Robert asked.

“I think it’s you detonator, but I won’t be sure till I’ve checked it out,” Aaron replied, ignoring the distracting feeling of Robert watching him. 

It had been silent for a minute or so when Aaron asked the question, which had been bugging him for the past week. “So why Emmerdale? Of all the places you could live, why here?” 

Aaron loved it here, but that was because he’d lived here a big part of his life. He couldn’t imagine that anyone would choose to live here otherwise, there was no attraction. 

“I was forced to leave some things behind. Now I’m here to take back what’s rightfully mine.” Robert’s voice was cold and Aaron could hear the sharp anger underneath. A shiver ran along Aaron’s back, this time in fear. It was easy to forget who he was talking to, he felt a connection with Robert he couldn’t explain, but it was things like this that reminded him that he didn’t know much about the vampire. Just because he hadn’t harmed Aaron so far, didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the future. 

But even stronger than his feeling of danger, was his curiosity. “So I take it its true then, that you lived here sixteen years ago?” His voice was soft when he asked the question, but he knew that the vampire heard him anyway. 

Robert made a low humming sound to confirm Aaron’s words. 

“People will notice, you know,” Aaron muttered as he ran his hand along the motor block. “That you haven’t aged a day.”

“I suppose they will, but people knowing about my true nature doesn’t concern me. Most of the time I just find them boring. Humans are always obsessed with their meaningless lives and problems, their fear of death leading them to make foolish decisions.” Robert almost sounded bored, like this should be obvious to Aaron. 

“Thanks for the compliment,” Aaron snarled offended, unable to keep some spite out of his voice. 

“I was not referring to you,” Robert said before Aaron could say anything more. “I’ve found that you are quite interesting for a human.” 

Aaron wondered if Robert even realized that he was being offensive. There was a small part of him that felt pleased, but mostly Robert’s words just made him angry. “You’re a real charmer,” Aaron snapped, closing the hood of the car with a bang. “I’ve found the problem. You can bring your car over tomorrow and I’ll make sure it’s fixed by the end of the day.” Aaron turned back around and made his way out of the garage without waiting for Robert’s answer. 

“Why are you angry?” Robert growled, his voice low as he followed Aaron outside. 

“Did you just hear yourself in there?” Aaron felt tempted to glance over his shoulder, but instead he just marched on. “You’re a real asshole.”

Robert caught up with him and started walking next to Aaron. 

“I’m sorry,” Robert replied after a beat of silence, it sounded like he’d a hard time getting the words out. “I haven’t had interaction with a human for quite some time. “

Aaron blinked his eyes in surprise. “So what are you saying, that your people skills are rusty?” For some reason that thought made Aaron laugh, the sound of his laughter filling the silence of the evening. 

Robert glanced at him sideways, clearly amused. “I guess I am,” Robert admitted. Aaron met his eyes, the grin still on his face. He was filled with pure happiness and Aaron knew it must be showing on his face. It wasn’t often that anyone was able to get a smile out of him, let alone a laugh. His life wasn’t always easy and everything he’d been through in the past had left its mark. Most days he wasn’t unhappy, but he couldn’t really say he was happy either. He just lived his life from day to day. 

Robert was staring at him again, his pink lips curled up in affection. “You should do that more often,” he said suddenly, his voice warm and soft. 

For some reason Aaron couldn’t pull his eyes away from the vampire. “What?” Aaron breathed. 

“Smile.” Robert lifted his arm like he wanted to touch Aaron, but he’d dropped his arm back down before Aaron even realized he’d moved it at all. 

Aaron turned his head away at the compliment, his cheeks turning pink. He awkwardly rubbed a hand across his face before he pushed both his hands into his pockets. He didn’t dare to look at Robert again. 

They walked the last few feet to the car in silence. Once there, Aaron walked over to the driver’s side, unlocking his car before he made himself look up again. “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked, not quite meeting Robert’s eyes. 

He saw Robert nod out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll bring my car around at noon.”

“Alright,” Aaron muttered, moving his hand down to open the door of the car. He was strangely reluctant to say goodbye to Robert. 

“What would you say if I asked you out on a date?” He heard Robert say. 

Aaron stiffened, his hand frozen on the door handle. “You’re a vampire,” was the first thing that got out of his mouth. 

Robert snickered. “That’s not the answer I was hoping for.”

“I’m not saying no, it’s just…” Aaron bit his lip as he let go of the door handle. He turned sideways to face Robert, his heart beating rapidly against his chest in both excitement and nerves. “Well you’re old. You’re probably older than my granddad.”

“I doubt I look anything like your granddad,” Robert said dryly. “But thanks for the comparison.”

“Shut up.” Aaron muttered, stomping Robert in the chest. He tipped his head back a little and met Robert’s eyes. “How can I be sure that I won’t end up as your dinner?” He was flirting, he knew he was, but he couldn’t stop himself. 

Robert flashed a smirk and Aaron could feel his throat go dry. “You can’t,” the vampire almost purred. 

Aaron ducked his head as his cheeks turned red. “Right,” Aaron managed to squeeze out, his voice high and hoarse. He opened the door on the driver’s side, his left hand resting on the side of his car.

Robert walked to the other side of the car. “Pick you up at eight tomorrow?” 

For a few seconds Aaron stared at Robert’s beautiful features before he gave a quick nod and slid into the car. He turned on the engine and drove away once Robert had stepped aside. After fighting the desire to look into the rearview mirror for a few seconds, he gave in and took a quick glance at Robert, who was watching him drive away.


	5. Chapter 5

Aaron moved downstairs, running a hand through his still wet hair. He’d just taken a shower, getting ready for his date in half an hour. The thought that he had a date with a vampire still both frightened and excited him. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, he just knew that he’d to figure out this attraction he’d for Robert. He’d never been attracted to anybody this way before. It had been a long time since he’d felt anything for anybody at all, hadn’t done much dating after what happened with Jackson. 

He sighed and put the thought to the back of his mind. Tonight was about having fun, he shouldn’t be thinking about shadows of his past. 

Robert had come by the garage this afternoon, but Aaron hadn’t been around so he hadn’t seen the vampire. Maybe for the best because Aaron had been annoyingly nervous the whole day and he either would have snapped at Robert or been at a loss for words. Neither would have left a good impression. He just hoped tonight would turn out okay, he didn’t have a great track record when it came to dating. 

He entered the living room, hoping no one was around to see him in, what his mother liked to call, his fancy clothes. Unfortunately Chas was sitting on the couch, looking comfortable. She glanced in his direction when he moved inside and her gaze froze on him as she realized what he was wearing.

“Looking fancy,” she said with a smile. “Going somewhere?”

Aaron rolled his eyes. He knew she wouldn’t be smiling so brightly if she knew who his date was with. 

The whole week he’d been close to asking her about Robert, about what she knew about him and about this thing that had apparently happened, this thing that had something to do with him. But every time he was about to ask her, something stopped him. He was scared that he wouldn’t like what she would tell him. Scared because for some reason he didn’t want to know about the person Robert was, scared that he’d done something horrible, something unforgivable. Aaron wasn’t stupid, he knew Robert was a vampire, knew that Robert must have done things in his past, knew that he probably had killed people, drained them from their blood. But if that was the truth he wanted to find out because Robert told him, Robert had promised him he would find out everything on its own time. Maybe he shouldn’t trust the vampire, but he did, he trusted him badly. And that was stupid right? Robert was a vampire while his mother had always told him he couldn’t trust vampires. And what did he even know about him? He knew what car he was driving and where he lived, but that was about it. Aaron shook away the doubts, he didn’t want to think about anything tonight. For once he just wanted to enjoy himself. 

Aaron realized he’d been silent ridiculously long because his mother was looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Uhm. It’s nothing, I’m just going to have a few drinks with Adam.”

This time it was Chas who rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid Aaron, I know you’re going on a date. You wouldn’t dress up like that for Adam.” She grinned and a wicked glint appeared in her eyes. “Truth be told you never dress up for anyone. This boy must be real special.”

“Mom, shut up,” Aaron groaned, his cheeks turning warm. She’d no idea. 

“You never tell me anything,” Chas sulked as she turned back towards the TV, but Aaron could hear by the undertone of amusement that she was just mocking him. “You shouldn’t forget to put gel into your hair.”

“I was just coming down to pick up a new one, the old one’s empty,” Aaron explained as he opened his bag to get the gel he’d bought earlier. He moved to get back upstairs when Chas started talking again. 

“Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She sounded like she was making a joke, but he could hear the worry in her voice. 

Aaron had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying something particular unkind. She was always like this when he was having a date or a one night stand for that matter. Sometimes it was adorable, but most of the time he just found it annoying. She always wanted to make sure he was careful, wanting to know everything the moment he even talked to a guy. He got that she was just trying to protect him, that she was looking out for him, but she really needed to learn that he wasn’t a child anymore. He was in his twenties and old enough to make his own decisions. 

He moved over to where his mom was sitting and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I promise I’ll be careful,” he muttered. He left the room before she’d the chance to say anything. Showing affection to people he cared about still made him feel awkward. 

He went into the bathroom and fixed his hair. Once he was satisfied he cleaned his hands and dried them before lifting his head and staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He’d never thought of himself as particular beautiful, he knew he was handsome in a rough kind of way, if you liked that sort of thing, but he wasn’t beautiful or pretty. He had a hard face, eyes that were cold most of the time, haunted like they had seen too much. It wasn’t often that people approached him, ever rarer to be asked out on a date. Aaron supposed that he didn’t look very approachable, most of the time people would get put off by his snarl. But he hadn’t behaved any differently around Robert and he just couldn’t figure out why the vampire would wanna take him on a date. As far as Aaron knew he didn’t have much appeal. He wasn’t beautiful, attractive or funny, he didn’t have this sense of positivity around him that some people did. He just didn’t get it at all. It was a question that had been going through his head the whole day, but he still hadn’t thought of an answer. 

Aaron sighed, moving a hand over his cleaned shaven cheeks. Maybe he just had to ask Robert. 

He turned away from the mirror and went back downstairs. A glance at the clock told him that he’d about fifteen minutes till Robert would show up. He sat down next to his mother, ignoring the big grin she had on her face. “So who’s the lucky one? Someone I know?”

Aaron glared at Chas. “Can you stop with the twenty questions?”

“Why won’t you tell me?” Chas replied, looking at him with big, begging eyes.

“Because it’s none of your business who I go out with.” To stop her from asking anymore he added: “You don’t know him anyway.”

“So he’s not from here then?” she asked, unwilling to let it slide so easily. 

“Mom!” Aaron hissed, pulling his eyes away from the TV screen to glare at her. 

Chas moved her hands up in a sign of exasperation. “Fine, fine. Just don’t come crawling to me if it doesn’t work out.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, not replying to her moping. For a few moments it was silent as they both stared at the TV screen. As usual Chas was watching some stupid reality show. 

But as the silence carried on, Aaron’s nerves started to return so he started talking to get his mind somewhere else. “Have you heard any interesting gossip about the man that moved into Home Farm?” Technically he was still talking and thinking about Robert, but this was one of the only topics that held enough of his interest to dim his nerves. And he’d to ask her at some point anyway. 

Chas froze on the couch, she even stopped breathing for a moment. Aaron tried to stop himself from staring at her too intently. She’d to clear her throat before she finally answered. “I’ve heard some talk about it here and there, but nothing interesting to be honest.”

Aaron noted that she was pointedly not looking at him. 

“Really?” Aaron said, trying to keep his voice light as to make it seem like he was just making conversation. “It’s all I’ve heard people talking about the past week. I thought you would be all over it by now, heard every gossip there is.”

Chas’ eyes snapped to his face. “Why would you think that?” she snapped, her voice high. 

“Because you work at a bar,” Aaron stated, like it should be obvious. 

Chas turned her eyes back to the screen and moved her hand through her hair, a nervous sign. “Right, of course.” 

Aaron swallowed down his questions. He’d never seen her act the way she was acting right now. She looked close to freaking out. What the hell had happened sixteen years ago? What did she know about Robert? Why was she freaked out like this, afraid to even touch the subject? Aaron realized it was worse or bigger than he’d thought. For some reason he wasn’t afraid, he was mostly just curious. He wanted to ask her more questions, but the doorbell rang before he’d the chance. 

His mother glanced at the direction of the hall and Aaron realized it probably hadn’t been a good idea to let Robert pick him up at his own home. He wasn’t keen on Chas finding out who he was going on a date with. 

Aaron quickly rose from couch before his mother could get up and open the door for him. “Don’t wait up for me,” Aaron said as he quickly left the room. He grabbed his jacket from the coatrack and opened the front door, his jacket draped across his arm. 

Robert was standing in the doorway, smiling once he caught sight of Aaron. 

“Hi,” Aaron muttered, meeting Robert’s smile. Robert had to take a step back to make room for Aaron when he stepped outside. Aaron quickly closed the door behind him before he refocused his attention on Robert. 

“Are you keeping me from looking in? Or are you keeping someone from looking out?” Robert asked, amused. 

Aaron ducked his head as he put his arms through his jacket, pulling it over his shoulders. “It’s a bit early to meet the family don’t you think.”

“I suppose it is,” Robert answered, there was a strange hint to his voice, but when Aaron glanced up, Robert’s face held no emotion. 

“Shall we?” Robert asked before he started walking in the direction of his car, Aaron following behind him. 

Once there, Robert walked over to the passengers door and opened it. For a moment Aaron was confused and wondered if Robert wanted him to drive, which was kind of strange for a first date, but then he realized what Robert was doing. 

“Are you serious?” Aaron asked, incredulous, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice. 

Robert looked at him patiently. “Just humor me,” he said completely serious, holding the car door in his hand. 

“I’m capable of opening my own door you know,” Aaron replied, not moving an inch, the laughter leaving his voice when he realized Robert really was serious. It was quite ridiculous what Robert was doing and he didn’t feel any need to humor Robert. If anything it made him want to put his feet in the ground and not move all evening. 

“Can you just get in?” Robert replied, there’s a hint of irritation in his voice. 

Aaron raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And what if I won’t?” 

Robert narrowed his eyes. “Do you really want me to drag you into this car? We both know you can’t stop me.”

Aaron didn’t even know how this had turned from innocent teasing to being annoyed with each other in a matter of seconds. “Fine, but this is the one and only time you’re allowed to do this,” Aaron muttered, dragging himself to the other side of the car and getting in. He could barely stop himself from glaring in Robert’s direction. 

“You’re being unnecessary difficult,” he heard Robert murmur when he closed the car door. For a moment Aaron wondered if Robert had meant for him to hear that, but if Robert talked loudly enough for Aaron to hear him, the vampire had intended for him to hear every single word. 

The driver’s door opened and Robert sat himself down beside Aaron. 

“You know it’s the twenty-first century right?” Aaron asked once Robert had started driving. 

Robert simply glanced at him for a second or two, his eyebrows raised, in either disbelieve or annoyance, maybe both. 

Aaron looked back at him with an innocent expression, the corners of his mouth curling upwards into a smile. “Just checking,” Aaron spoke, his tone slightly mocking. “I probably would stop counting the years too if I was as old as you.”

It took a while till Robert answered. “You have a strange obsession with my age,” he finally said, but his voice was light, his earlier annoyance gone. 

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “Can you blame me?” he replied. “I don’t understand why you won’t just tell me your age.”

He could see Robert shaking his head out of the corner of his eye. “You’re really not gonna let this go are you?” 

“Not unless you tell me,” Aaron agreed, his voice filled with light humor.

Robert snorted, turning the wheel to take a right turn. “I might tell you later tonight if you can stop talking about it.”

“It’s really that bad, huh,” Aaron muttered. He realized his nerves had completely vanished, he felt comfortable sitting next to the vampire, watching him drive. 

He could practically hear Robert rolling his eyes. “Are you always like this?”

Aaron couldn’t hold back the grin appearing on his face. “Pretty much yeah.” He moved his hands over the soft leather of the chair. “Do you regret asking me on a date yet?” he asked. 

Robert turned his head to meet his eyes at that. “No at all,” he said, chuckling. “You’re different than I expected, but I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”

Aaron’s curiosity got spiked. “Different how?”

Robert looked at him thoughtfully, pursing his lips. “You’re very mature for your age, sarcastic, bold, rather do everything yourself than accept any help. “

Aaron wondered if he should be offended, but knew that it was a pretty accurate description, not a pretty one, but accurate. Again he wondered why Robert would want take him out on a date, it was scary how much of Aaron’s character he’d figured out already. 

“But every now and then you get this look in your eyes, this light, that makes you look young, like you can see the good in the world, in people, despite knowing how bad it can be.”

For a moment Aaron was lost for words, when he regained his speech, he snorted and said: “Very poetic. Now I know you at least must have been born in the 19th century, maybe even earlier.”

His words pulled a laugh out of Robert’s mouth. The sound of his laughter filled the car, the sound rich and beautiful. Aaron found himself staring at the vampire, taken in by the sight. 

Robert was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on. 

Aaron forced his eyes away from Robert and looked through the windshield. Silence dawned on them again and Aaron’s thoughts went back to what Robert had said to him. The words left his mouth before he could think about them: “So it’s true then? That we’ve met before.”

Robert rubbed a hand across his jaw before he gave in with a sigh. “We did.”

Aaron waited for Robert to continue, but when it stayed silent he glanced at the vampire. Looking at Robert’s face he realized that Robert had no intention of telling him more. “I’m not gonna get anything more out of you, am I?”

Robert met is eyes for maybe five seconds before he turned his attention back on the road, he looked serious. “Not tonight.”

“Why?” Aaron asked, suddenly agitated. “Why won’t you just tell me?”

“Because I made a promise I wouldn’t,” Robert said shortly, his voice void of emotion. 

Aaron kept staring at Robert, at his hard features and cold eyes. Robert looked like he was reliving some memories, very unpleasant ones. Aaron was tempted to ask, but knew that it wasn’t a good idea. Robert would probably only snap at him anyway. 

When Aaron managed to pull his eyes away from the vampire he realized they were on the highway by now. As much as he wanted to continue this conversation, he knew the topic was closed for tonight. “Where are we going anyway?” he asked instead, deciding to let it go for now. It had been at least a few months since he’d set a foot out of Emmerdale. He lived a pretty boring life if he thought about it. It must pale in comparison to the life Robert lived. 

It took a moment till Robert answered, his lips slowly curling into a smirk, the coldness disappearing from his eyes. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” Robert drawled. The vampire looked very pleased with himself. Again. He was too cocky for his own good. Aaron didn’t know why he found it so attractive, usually arrogant people just annoyed him. 

“Can’t you just give me a straight answer for once?” Aaron growled halfheartedly. 

“I could, but where would be the fun in that?” Robert answered smoothly, glancing at Aaron with dark eyes. For a moment Robert looked like a predator seizing up is prey, his prey being Aaron. 

Again Aaron wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it so far! <333


	6. Chapter 6

Once they had parked the car Robert led him to a building that pretty much looked like every other restaurant Aaron had ever seen, but eyes could fool you. He hadn’t forgotten who he was on a date with and Aaron had started to realize that Robert had a weird sense of humor. Though he hadn’t given Aaron a reason not to trust him so far, didn’t mean he wouldn’t do something out of the ordinary. Who knew what kind of dates people went on in the 19th century? He wasn’t even sure if dating was even allowed back then, definitely not between two guys.

Aaron entered the building before Robert could open the door for him. It had been awkward enough the first time and when he caught a glimpse of Robert’s slightly annoyed face, Aaron knew that Robert had intended to do the same thing again, despite Aaron telling him not to.

Once inside Aaron looked around the room. There was nothing special about the place. There were tables with people scattered around the room and waiters walking around to take orders or hand over drinks. It looked a lot fancier than the places Aaron usually went to, but it was definitely not some creepy vampire meeting place. “Wait?” Aaron said surprised. “Did you take me to an actual restaurant?”

Robert didn’t respond immediately. Instead he glanced down at his own arm and Aaron realized that he’d placed a hand on Robert’s arm when he’d started talking. Aaron quickly pulled his hand back, coughing awkwardly.

“Yes,” Robert answered with an arched eyebrow. “Where did you think I was gonna take you?” he added. He sounded amused, like usual.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, looking a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I just expected something a little less _normal_.”

Robert snickered while shaking his head. “I don’t know whether that says a lot about you or about the opinion you have of me.” Robert’s amused expression disappeared and got replaced by something thoughtful. He did that a lot too, staring at Aaron with an expression that made it look like he was trying to figure Aaron out. “Aren’t you hungry?” Robert asked, almost tentatively. Aaron realized that maybe he wasn’t the only one on unfamiliar territory.

“Well yeah,” Aaron admitted. He hadn’t had much to eat since lunch time.

“Good.” Robert made some signal with his hand and a waitress approached them immediately.

“Table for two?” she asked with a slight accent. Aaron guessed she was Irish.

“Yes please,” Robert answered with a polite smile.

She let them to a table at a corner. The lights at the restaurant were dimmed and on every table stood a burning candle. Aaron vaguely noted that it looked rather romantic.

Robert pulled back his chair before Aaron was aware he was going to do that. “You promised you wouldn’t do that anymore,” Aaron said before he sighed and sat down in the chair Robert was holding, deciding that he shouldn’t make a scene inside of a restaurant.

“I didn’t promise you anything,” Robert retorted as he sat down opposite of Aaron. “And we were talking about me opening car doors for you, not pulling back chairs.”

“Are you always like this?” Aaron growled, despite himself amused, asking the same question Robert had asked him half an hour ago.

Robert had to smile at that. “Pretty much yeah,” he replied, answering with the same words as Aaron had.

The waitress reappeared and they both ordered drinks. Aaron ordered a beer and to his surprise Robert ordered a red wine.

“You drink?” Aaron asked once the waitress was out of earshot, leaning forwards slightly, his arms resting on the table.

"Apart from blood you mean?”

Aaron pulled a face. That was indeed what he’d meant, but it was strange and rather unpleasant to hear Robert talking about drinking blood so casually. Of course he knew Robert had to drink blood, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk or think about it. There were all these rules about the supplying of human blood to vampires, all very legal and structured. There was no blood given to vampires that wasn’t given willingly by blood donors at the blood bank, but still, it put Aaron on edge to think about it, and not in a good way.

Robert seemed to notice his unease because he added: “I do enjoy a glass of wine every now and then. It’s one of the few drinks that does not repulse me.”

Aaron wasn’t sure what to do with that kind of information, but he got saved from answering when the waitress came back with their drinks. She placed them on the table and handed over their menus.

“So you’re just gonna watch me eat?” Aaron asked Robert as he took a look at all the different dishes. He tried not to pay attention to the price, it was rather off putting, but Aaron guessed that Robert could afford it easily so he decided not to worry.

“I don’t mind watching,” Robert replied. Aaron glanced up and found Robert looking at him, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. For a moment Aaron lost his train of thought as he looked at Robert. He looked at ease, the light of the flame reflected in his eyes, making them even more breathtakingly blue.

"Alright," Aaron muttered, most people would find it quite boring to watch other people eat, but Robert turned out to be an exception on a lot of things. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you, it’s not often that I get to eat in a fancy place like this.”

Robert leaned back in his chair. “Just order whatever you like.”

“What if I order every dish on the menu?” Aaron asked, mostly joking.

Robert rolled his eyes. “Don’t push it.”

“You said I could order whatever I liked,” Aaron talked on, ignoring Robert’s words. “Are you saying that you can’t afford every dish on the menu? I’ve to say, I’m slightly disappointed.”

Robert lifted his glass of wine and took a small sip, Aaron couldn’t stop himself from staring. Once Robert had placed the glass back on the table he said: “I never said I can’t afford it, but there’s no way you can even eat a tenth of what’s on that menu.”

Aaron gave Robert one of his rare smiles. “Point taken.” He took a look around the room before leaning forward and lowering his voice slightly. “I just wanted to check how far you’re willing to go, but I guess even a wealthy, old vampire has his limits.”

“You’ve got no idea,” Robert said with an almost wicked grin.

Aaron simply raised his eyebrows at Robert, which made Robert grin even wider. There was a good, teasing atmosphere between the two of them and Aaron had to admit that he was really enjoying himself. Maybe this date would work out after all.

He chose a dish and gave his order to the waitress. Robert of course didn’t order anything, which lead to the waitress giving him a strange look before walking away. Aaron was pretty sure that the possibility that Robert was a vampire didn’t even cross her mind. This wasn’t uncommon, although people knew about vampires now, most of them had never met one before. Vampires were commonly found in big cities, rarely found in small towns. It was common knowledge that vampires made about 1% of the population, which wasn’t much at all when you thought about it. Aaron had honestly thought that he would never meet a vampire in his life and look at him now.

“So tell me about yourself,” Robert said, pulling Aaron from his thoughts.

Aaron glanced up at the taller man. “What do you wanna know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me,” Robert answered. The look he was giving Aaron was an intense one, like he wanted to pry every single secret out of Aaron’s head.

Aaron absently played with his beer bottle, watching the flickering light of the candle. “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I lived in Emmerdale pretty much my whole life. I wasn’t an easy kid, gave my mother a rough time growing up, I figured out I was gay when I was eighteen, lost my boyfriend, lived in France for a year and a half. I moved back here half a year ago and worked in the garage ever since.”

Aaron glanced up once he was done talking. Robert seemed almost taken aback with the amount of information Aaron had given him in a matter of seconds. His eyes had widened slightly and he’d pursed his lips like he was trying to figure out what to respond to first.

“You figured giving me your whole life story at once would suffice?” Robert finally spoke, a distant smile tugging at his lips.

Aaron shrugged, grinning slightly. “Well, none of it ain’t true, it’s pretty much all there is to know about me. Did that satisfy your curiosity?”

Robert shook his head, now laughing full out. “Not at all, it only left me with more questions.”

“There’s not that much to tell,” Aaron said, for some reason slightly embarrassed. “I’m sure your life is a lot more interesting.”

“Honestly? Your life sounds very fascinating to me.”

Aaron looked up at that, thinking Robert must be joking, but he could see the seriousness in Robert’s eyes and he realized that Robert wasn’t messing with him at all.

“I’ll decide about that once you told me more about your life,” Aaron said dryly, knowing that there probably was no point in arguing with Robert. Aaron had already figured out that it was pretty much impossible to get the vampire to change his mind about anything.

The waitress appeared and placed a plate with some potatoes, vegetables and a steak in front of Aaron. She once again asked Robert if he really didn’t want anything, but Robert politely declined before returning his full attention to Aaron. It was strange to be the complete subject of someone’s attention, he’d never met anyone that focused his entire being on one person, it was overwhelming to say the least.

Aaron ate while telling Robert things about his life. He told him about his childhood and what it had been like growing up in Emmerdale. He told him about his time in France and how strange it had been once he moved back and had to live with his mom again. He even told him about the time he’d spend in prison. Robert mostly just listened. He only interrupted Aaron to ask a question or make a comment every now and then.

Aaron realized that he never before had talked about himself as much as he was doing right now. Usually people weren’t this deeply interested in his life. The only thing Aaron didn’t talk about was Jackson and to his relieve Robert didn’t ask, though Aaron could see the curiosity in his blue eyes.

Eventually they finished the dinner, well Aaron did, and once Robert had paid the bill they made their way outside. Robert suggested they could go for a walk and Aaron agreed so they took a detour through the town. It wasn’t a very big town, maybe twice the size of Emmerdale, but that didn’t say much. It was a nice looking town, though Aaron definitely wouldn’t want to live here, he was too attached to his home.

They had been silent for quite some time when Aaron spoke up: “I wanted to thank you for tonight, it’s really been a pleasure getting to know you, although I guess I mostly talked about myself, but you know… I’ve had fun.”

He could feel Robert’s gaze on him, but he pretended not to feel it and just walked on, staring straight ahead. “Why are you making it sound like this is a onetime thing?” Robert asked, his voice sharp.

“I’m not…” Aaron swallowed, he felt nervous all of sudden and that wasn’t a good thing, he always started rambling when he was nervous. He pushed his hands into his pockets, incapable of stopping the words wanting to stream out of his mouth. “I don’t want this to be a onetime thing, but I also don’t want you to think I’m stupid. We both know that this isn’t gonna last so I just wanted to let you know that you don’t have to worry. I’m not a person that gets attached. I’ve absolutely no problem with forgetting about guys, moving on from you won’t be a problem either. In fact I’m perfectly fine with this being a short time thing. I’ve never been someone who’s liked being in a relationship anyway…”

Robert abruptly stopped walking, but it took a moment till Aaron realized he was walking on his own. Once he did, he turned around to face the vampire, still in the middle of a sentence: “And since you’re a vampire and I’m… well me, there’s no way this is ever going to work out…”

Robert looked at him with a face so blank that it started to get through to Aaron that maybe this hadn’t been clear to Robert after all. “Which wasn’t clear to you at all.” Aaron awkwardly rubbed a hand across the back of his head. “Right.”

The vampire had a snarl on his face, his eyes dark. “Why did you agree to go out on a date with me if you beforehand decided that it wasn’t gonna work?”

Aaron had never reacted well to people getting angry at him and already could he feel the annoyance grow in his chest. “How could you possibly have thought that it would work?” he snapped, his voice just as hard.

Robert didn’t respond, his expression closed off. All the anger left Aaron’s body as he looked at the blonde vampire, he looked like someone had kicked his puppy. The good atmosphere that had been between them the whole evening had completely disappeared. Aaron rubbed a hand across his jaw. He shouldn’t have thought that for once he would have a flawless date, life never worked out for him like that.

Aaron sighed, pushing his cold hands into his pockets. “Look I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but I’m being realistic here.” He turned away from Robert and started walking again. “Maybe we should just go,” he muttered softly, knowing Robert would be able to hear him anyway.

He hadn’t taken more than two steps when a hand on his lower arm stopped him. Robert stepped in front of him, his eyes wide and compelling. “Aaron, you got me all wrong. I do want this to mean something.”

Aaron’s breath got pushed out of his lungs by the intensity of Robert’s words. “What? We can never be-”

“Robert, what a pleasant surprise to see you here,” a female voice spoke, somewhere to Aaron’s left.

Aaron started by the sudden presence of another person, the streets had been pretty abandoned so far. He turned his head to the left, looking for the intruder. It took a moment till he found the owner of the voice, but once he did he couldn’t pull his eyes away. A beautiful, brown-haired woman was walking towards them. She was tall, long curly hair running across her breasts. She was wearing dark clothes, but Aaron could tell they were expensive. She was absolutely mesmerizing, the same way Robert was.

It was only then her words got through to Aaron and he immediately turned towards Robert.

Robert’s eyes were on the woman. His face was completely emotionless except for the light narrowing of his eyes. He’d slightly turned, now standing in front of Aaron, almost like he was protecting him.

“Robert, who is she?” Aaron asked bewildered.

But Robert didn’t even acknowledge his words, his eyes didn’t leave the woman who had now paused in front of them. “What are you doing here?” Robert snapped, his voice as cold as ice. Aaron had never heard him talk like that before, his voice was scarily calm. Aaron shivered, his heart beating restlessly. He would never admit it, but Robert scared him in this moment.

The woman simply smiled, apparently not fazed at all by Robert’s tone. Her eyes moved from Robert to Aaron and Aaron found himself frozen under her piercing stare. “And who have we here?” she murmured, titling her head to the left as she took in his appearance. Aaron had the sudden desire to pull his clothes right and run a hand through his hair, he could barely stop himself from doing just that. For a moment the woman moved her attention back to Robert, apparently deciding that he wasn’t worth her attention, but something must dawn on her when she looked at Robert because her eyes snapped back to Aaron’s face, suddenly not uninterested anymore. “My, oh my, who would have thought,” she muttered with an unpleasant smile. “You must be Aaron Livesy. Haven’t you grown up pretty.”

Robert made a growling sound, stepping in front of Aaron fully. “Get away from him,” he grunted.

The woman curled a strand of her hair around her finger, pursing her lips. “Oh Robert, there’s no need to be like that,” the woman drawled, her voice sleek.

“Who are you?” Aaron asked, his voice harsh. Whoever this woman was he’d already decided that he didn’t like her one bit.

Robert growled again, his shoulders tense, it looked like he was getting ready to attack. He glanced over his shoulders at Aaron. “I promise you I can explain all of this,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft.

Aaron stared at the vampire in confusion, but the woman’s voice captured his attention when she started speaking.

“Oh Robert, didn’t you think to mention me?” The woman turned towards Aaron with a cold smile. “I’m Chrissie Sugden. Robert’s wife.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! How's that for a cliffhanger? ;)


	7. Chapter 7

“I’m Chrissie Sugden. Robert’s wife.”

Was it possible for your brain to just crash? Aaron was pretty sure his brain stopped working for a long moment as Chrissie spoke her words. She looked at him with a smug expression on her face, her lips lifted up in a small smile. Aaron had no idea what her intentions were or why she was here, all he could do was stare at here pretty face, although somehow she wasn’t as beautiful as before, she looked rather ugly in the light of her smugness and air of arrogance.

Robert had turned to face him with big eyes, apparently momentarily forgetting about his wife being here, his whole being fixed on Aaron. 

“You’re married?” Aaron finally choked out, his voice raspy yet sharp. 

Robert duked his head as soon as Aaron started talking, avoiding to look Aaron straight in the eye. He looked put off. It was strange to see the well put together vampire so out of balance. Aaron would have enjoyed it if he wasn’t completely shocked. And angry, he could feel himself getting angrier with every second that passed. 

“Robert, just tell me the truth. Are you married or not?”

Robert sighed before he answered: “Yes, she’s my wife.”

Aaron’s eyes were blazing as shock left his system and got replaced with sharp fury. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” he cried out. 

“I was going to-”

“When?” Aaron interrupted, his voice harsh. “We’re on a date for god’s sake. You don’t keep things like that a secret!”

“I don’t know, okay,” Robert snapped. “I wanted to get to know you a bit better before I told you about my past.”

Chrissie spoke before Aaron had the chance to reply. “Oh my, he doesn’t know anything yet, does he?” she laughed humourlessly. “Oh Robert, I can’t believe you haven’t told him the truth. Does he even know who you are?”

“I know he’s a vampire,” Aaron snarled at the woman before Robert had the chance to answer. 

Her eyes landed on Aaron, she looked both smug and intrigued. “You really have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into my dear Aaron. If you knew the truth you probably wouldn’t have agreed to come here with him. I doubt you would want anything to do with him.”

Aaron opened his mouth to ask her what she was talking about, but Robert was quicker. “Chrissie, you better stop talking right now.” It sounded like a threat.

“That’s no way to talk to your wife, Robert,” she said, her voice silky yet sharp. “It seems my presence is no longer wanted. I shall leave you boys to talk, it seems it’s required. Robert, we’ll talk soon.” She turned back to Aaron. He read something in her eyes that made him shiver, something cold and dark. Some deep dislike, or one could say, hate. “Aaron, meeting you has been my pleasure,” she drawled kindly, though everything about her contradicted the friendly words. 

She turned around, her hair sweeping across her shoulders. Robert glared at her retreating figure, his eyes stone cold. Aaron had the vague idea that Robert had to hold himself back from chasing after her. 

Aaron shook his head, his hands clenched into fists. “I don’t believe this.”

His words seemed to pull Robert’s attention back from his wife, his wild eyes landing on Aaron. “Look Aaron, I can explain this.”

“Explain!” Aaron could barely stop himself from shouting. “Explain what? That you asked me out on a date while you’re married and forgot to mention it to me?! Or the fact that somehow not only you seem to know me, but she does as well?!”

“I told you I would tell you everything in good time,” Robert answered slowly, like he’d a hard time trying to keep calm. 

Aaron narrowed his eyes at the vampire, his words doing nothing but ignite his anger. “I want to know what the hell is going on now!”

For a moment Robert closed his eyes, he almost seemed pained. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why?” Aaron growled. “Cause you made some stupid promise to someone?” Aaron breathed in deeply, trying to keep his anger at bay, but failing miserably. He could almost feel his blood pumping through his veins, he wondered if Robert was capable of hearing it. “I’ve the right to know.”

“I know, you do,” Robert sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“So just tell me,” Aaron snapped. “Tonight is already ruined so I’m sure it can’t get any worse.”

Robert suddenly started laughing, but it was a very bitter and unpleasant laugh and it stopped almost as soon as it started. “You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” he said almost bitterly. 

“Maybe not, but you owe me the truth,” Aaron hissed, stepping closer towards the vampire.

“Fine,” Robert gave in, his voice losing some of its calm. He seemed angry, but it didn’t seem to be directed at Aaron. “But I’ve warned you it’s not a pretty story.” He suddenly turned and started walking the same way they came from. 

Aaron stared after him, confused as to where Robert was going. 

“Are you coming?” Robert called over his shoulder, pausing, presumably so Aaron could catch up with him. 

“Where are we going?” Aaron asked harshly as he started walking. “I thought I was finally gonna hear the truth.”

Robert glanced at him sideways. “You are, but I’m not the one who should tell you.”

“Then who?” Aaron snarled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this angry. He’d no idea what to think of any of it. Robert was fucking married, married to some beautiful woman while he was on a date with Aaron. He wouldn’t have taken Robert for a cheating person, but then again he and Chrissie Sugden didn’t seem to be on friendly terms, if anything they seemed to almost dislike each other. And then he wasn’t even talking about the way she’d looked at him, the hate in her eyes had really scared him. He guessed she’d every reason to be pissed since he was on a date with her husband, but that didn’t explain why she would dislike him this much. She’d looked at him like she hated him deeply, but why? It was the most confusing situation Aaron had ever been in, but that didn’t help calming his anger. Most of all he couldn’t believe that Robert would lie about something like this, it seemed that trusting him had been a mistake after all. 

“Your mother.”

For a moment shock took over every other emotion inside of Aaron and he grabbed Robert’s arm to stop him. “My mother? Why?” 

Robert looked down at him with a disbelieving expression on his face. “I know you’re not stupid Aaron, she must have acted differently ever since she heard I came back.”

Aaron pursed his lips, he knew his mother had been hiding something, but he didn’t want to believe that his mother was really this deeply involved in all of this. But yet he couldn’t deny that Robert was right so he nodded with a sigh. “You two know each other, huh?”

“We met briefly, but we’re not in any way on friendly terms with each other.” He sighed again and pulled his arm loose from Aaron’s grip. “But that doesn’t change the fact that she should be the one to tell you, not me.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?” Aaron asked, a bit calmer as they started walking again. “It makes no difference to me if you tell me or she does.”

“It does to me,” Robert replied, a distant expression on his face. “Just trust me on this.”

Aaron snorted. “Yeah, cause that has worked out well for me so far.”

He could feel Robert’s burning gaze on him as soon as he’d finished talking. “I know you’re angry with me and you’ve every reason to be, but I just want you to know that I really was planning on telling you that I’m married.”

The topic immediately brought back Aaron’s anger. “How long?” he snarled. 

“How long what?” Robert responded immediately, unlocking the car once they reached it. This time he didn’t open the door for Aaron, he seemed to sense that it wasn’t a good idea. 

“How long have you been married?” Aaron clarified snappy as he sat down in the car while Robert did the same.

Robert looked at him for a few seconds, but Aaron didn’t return his gaze. Yet he could feel Robert’s eyes on him as if it was a physical touch. “Almost 38 years,” Robert finally answered softly, pulling his eyes away from Aaron and turning on the engine. 

For some reason it was not as long as Aaron had expected, but it still felt like a really long time. No wonder that Chrissie had looked at him with so much anger, he would have been angry too if the person he’d been with for such a long time was going on dates with other people. It didn’t explain the hate, but who knew, maybe Robert cheated regularly, maybe this wasn’t the first time she had caught Robert with somebody else. But for some reason Aaron couldn’t believe in that thought. He didn’t know why, but it felt like this dating thing was almost as new to Robert as it was to Aaron. 

Not that they were really dating or anything because as far as Aaron was concerned this had been the one and only time they were going to do this. Aaron didn’t want to date a married man. As much mistakes as he’d made in his short life, he still had some principles he wanted to hold on to. This was not one he was willing to cross, not for anyone and certainly not for some lying, old vampire. It didn’t seem worth the trouble. But still there was this nagging feeling inside of Aaron’s chest that he couldn’t simply ignore. He didn’t want this thing between him and Robert to be just over, not when it had barely begun. 

“Right,” Aaron only said. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to Robert’s declaration. He’d thought he could read Robert quite well, but it turned out that he’d been completely wrong, he’d no idea what was going on in the vampire’s head. Robert barely shared any information about himself, Aaron had pretty much told his whole life story to the vampire, leaving out Jackson and the self-harming, but Robert didn’t tell him anything about who he was or why he was even back in Emmerdale. It was insufferable. 

“It’s not what you think alright,” Robert said after a long silence. “We’re not together anymore, haven’t been for some time.” Aaron listened to Robert’s explanation while staring out of the window. It had started to rain, soft droplets hitting the windshield. Robert didn’t even turn on the wipers, seemingly not bothered by the reduction of his sight. “Today was the first time I’d seen her in over two years.”

That caught Aaron’s attention and he turned around in his seat. “Then why are you still married? If you’re not together anymore.”

For some reason Robert had to smile when Aaron finished speaking. 

“Let me guess,” Aaron snarled annoyed when Robert didn’t answer, but simply kept on smiling. “It’s a long and difficult story.” He crossed his arms across his chest, turning away from Robert. 

“It’s not actually,” Robert responded with a laugh in his voice. “I guess we just never came around to singing the divorce papers.” Robert’s tone of voice changed, becoming more serious. “It’s different in the vampire community, you mate for life. Divorcing in my world is pretty much unheard of. It’s a real taboo and if you value your place in the vampire society, you make sure you’ll never leave your partner once you’re actually married.”

Aaron frowned once Robert was done explaining things. “You know how ridiculous that sounds right? You vampires really are old fashioned.”

Robert chuckled. “I suppose you’re right, but most of us are really old so it’s not that strange when you think about it. And as much as I agree with you, I don’t think this rule will change anytime soon.”

“So let me get this straight, you’ll stay with her forever because if you don’t you’ll get kicked out of some stupid vampire community?”

“It’s not stupid,” Robert growled jokingly. He glanced sideways and caught Aaron’s eyes. “And it’s never been an issue before now,” Robert added, his tone of voice warm and meaningful. 

Aaron kept on staring at the vampire till the words got through to him and he blushed. “Oh,” Aaron murmured feeling shy all of a sudden.

Robert made a turn to the right and suddenly turned off the engine. 

Aaron glanced out of the window and was greeted by a familiar sight. It was strange to realize they were back in Emmerdale already, it felt like the time had passed twice as quickly as it had done on the way out. 

He unbuckled his belt and got out of the car. By the time he closed the door Robert had already reached his side. 

Robert accompanied him the short distance to his home. Neither of them spoke, Aaron wasn’t sure what to say and the nerves that had been gone all evening were back all of a sudden. 

Once they reached the front door Aaron moved to open it, but Robert grabbed his hand before he could. “We’re gonna part ways here,” he said. 

Aaron pulled his eyes away from Robert’s hand around his hand and glanced up at the vampire. “Wait, you’re not coming with me?” he asked surprised. He realized it had been pretty stupid to presume that Robert would come with him. Now that he thought about it he figured that it probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. 

Robert shook his head, smiling dimly. “No, this is something you’ve to do on your own.” 

Aaron wanted to protest, but knew that Robert was right. “Yeah, I can’t argue with you on that.”

Aaron wanted to turn away, knowing there wasn’t anything left to say, but Robert stopped him again. One of his hands came to rest on the side of Aaron’s face, immediately shutting up every protest Aaron was about to give. 

Robert leaned in, his breath tingling Aaron’s face. For a moment Aaron was convinced that Robert was going to kiss him, but instead the vampire muttered words that Aaron didn’t get immediately. “I’m 173 years old.”

“What?” Aaron whispered as he looked up at Robert with wide eyes. 

Robert smiled, the smile amused yet genuine. “I promised I would tell you my age if you stopped talking about it.” He moved his thumb along Aaron’s skin, caressing his cheek. “I’m 173 years old.”

Aaron fluttered his eyes closed, his senses overwhelmed with Robert’s smell and presence. The attraction between them was undeniable and overwhelming. Aaron didn’t think he’d ever felt anything like this before. 

When Aaron blinked open his eyes, Robert had disappeared into the darkness of the late evening. It almost felt like he’d never been there, but Aaron could still feel the ghost of Robert’s fingers upon his cheek. 

He turned back to face the house and the conversation he needed to have with his mother. Now that Robert was gone the fear of the conversation he needed to have, came back to life. It scared him more than he was willing to admit, his heart beating rapidly against his chest. But he knew that he needed to know the truth about his past, Robert’s past and these things everybody, even Robert, seemed afraid to talk about. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was about time he learned the truth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I know. I'm really sorry for everyone that has been waiting for an update. :( The next chapter should be done a little sooner. Thanks for reading, it means a lot. Enjoy!

In the end things didn’t work out the way Aaron had planned. It turned out that his mother had to work the remainder of the evening so he ended up sitting in the pub till midnight. Drinking a pint and overthinking every little thing that had happened and been said on his date with Robert. He was strangely scared of asking his mother about her past with Robert, he wasn’t sure if it was something he wanted to know. The words of Chrissie were ringing in his ears: _“You really have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into my dear Aaron. If you knew the truth you probably wouldn’t have agreed to come here with him. I doubt you would want anything to do with him.”_

The evening was running to an end and the pub was slowly emptying out. Aaron didn’t notice he was the only one left sitting in the pub until his mother called out his name. He blinked his eyes a few times to erase the daze in his brain because of all the different scenarios that had been running through his head.

“Where have you been thinking about?” his mother asked with raised eyebrows. “You were really far away. I called your name three times”

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, draining the last of his pint. “I was just thinking about some stuff, nothing important.” He was trying to come up with the best way to start this conversation, but he couldn’t really think of anything, maybe didn’t really want to.

Chas sat down opposite of him with a big grin upon her face. “So how was your date?” she asked, curling her hands together and leaning forward on the table.

“Huh?” Aaron said unintelligently. For a moment really not knowing what on earth she was talking about.

Chas slapped his wrist. “What’s up with you?” She narrowed her eyes, tipping her head to the side. “Was it really that bad?”

“Yes,” slipped out of Aaron’s mouth before he shook his head to take back the words. “No.”

Aaron stared down at the brown table and thought about blue eyes and white teeth, the cold, dark figure from his dreams. He thought about Robert, about his strange but captivating demeanor, about the strange connection he felt when he was around him, a connection that ran deeper than anything he’d ever felt. He didn’t just think that Robert was the man from his dreams, he knew it was the truth with every fiber of his being. The comforting presence at the edge of his memories was real, he’d met him and so it was time he learned the reason about Robert being a part of his dreams. For a moment he looked for the best way to say what he was about to say, but he figured he might as well be blunt, curious to see her reaction. “I went on a date with Robert Sugden. The vampire.”

For a moment the world slowed down, everything going in slow-motion. He could see her blink her eyes once, before she opened her mouth slowly, no words coming out. She seemed speechless, gasping for air. He vaguely remembered having asked about the strange presence in his dreams when he was very young, couldn’t have been more then twelve. He hadn’t thought about what she’d said for years, but suddenly he remembered. “It’s just a dream Aaron. All of it was just a dream. You should stop playing so many video games, it messes with your head.” It wasn’t what she’d said what made him remember, though it had been quite hurtful at the time, it was the look in her eyes and the almost scared and upset sound of her voice that made him remember. It was like he was going through a de ja vu.

“You what?” she muttered, her voice high and breathless. Aaron could see the wheels turning in her head, already trying to come up with excuses and ways out. If anything his mother always knew how to talk her way out of trouble. But he didn’t want lies or half-truths, he wanted to know everything, even if it would hurt like hell. Everyone had heard the horror stories about what had happened in Home Farm sixteen years ago, although most of it was probably made up, Aaron knew there had to be some truth in it somewhere. He’d just never thought that he’d played any kind of part in it.

He could tell the moment Chas pushed aside her emotions and came up with whatever lie she wanted to tell him. But Aaron spoke before she had the chance to. “Before you start lying, I want you to know that I know who he is, mom. I know you know him and I know he’s in here for some reason.” Aaron tapped the side of his head to indicate what he meant.

Chas’ her hands were clenched together on the table, he could see the struggle in her eyes. She probably knew there was no way out, but he knew she still was inclined to lie, even though the odds were against her. After a few long seconds she gave in, her body relaxing slightly. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that if she didn’t want to lose him she had to stop pretending. There were few things Aaron hated more than people lying to him, especially his mother. “So he told you,” she said. For some reason Chas didn’t seem all that shocked that he knew, maybe a part of her had been expecting that he would find out the truth the moment she heard Robert moved back to Emmerdale.

Aaron sighed wearily, wishing he could say Robert had told him at least something. “No, he hasn’t.”

She looked honestly surprised. “But then how…?”

“The only thing he told me was that we’ve met, which he could hardly deny because I knew who he was the moment I saw him.” Aaron’s voice was harsh, but he couldn’t help it, both angry at his mother and Robert. “He’s always been a part of my dreams and though he wasn’t surprised I recognized him he wouldn’t tell me a goddamn thing.”

Chas leaned back against the couch. “So where do I come in in all of this?” she asked carefully.

Aaron’s eyes snapped up to her face. “Don’t act stupid mom, you know everything. You know why a 173-year-old vampire is part of my dreams, you know what happened sixteen years ago. Robert told me that he’d promised someone he wouldn’t tell me anything and it doesn’t take a genius to know that’s you. He told me that if I wanted to know the whole story I should ask you.” Aaron clenched his hands into fists on the table and leaned forward. “You owe me the truth,” he hissed.

“Do I?” his mother murmured as if she was a little child who wasn’t getting her way.

“Of course you do,” Aaron snapped, losing the little patience he’d left. “Apparently I’m missing some big part of my past cause I don’t remember any of it, but if there’s some big, dark secret involving my past than I think I’ve every right to know.” Aaron tried to soften his tone a bit. “I know you just want to protect me, but please just be honest with me. If Robert is dangerous, apart from the fact that he’s a vampire of course, then I should know. His wife…,” the words were bitter on his tongue: “…Told me that I wouldn’t want anything to do with him once I knew the truth.”

Chas’ eyes widened, this time Aaron was sure he didn’t imagine the hint of fear and worry in her voice. “Chrissie Sugden is here?”

Aaron shrugged because he wasn’t sure if she really was back or if they had run into her on accident, he presumed the second part was very doubtful. From the small acquaintance he guessed Chrissie didn’t let anything happen accidently. “I guess so. We ran into her after we had dinner.” He fell silent, hoping his mother would finally reveal some of her thoughts. Although it was hard to hold back all the questions lingering on the edge of his tongue.

Chas licked her dry lips. “I hoped to never hear that name again,” she muttered mostly to herself. She sighed and let her head rest in her hands for a moment. When she lifted her head Aaron could read in her eyes that she’d made a decision. “I’ll tell you the truth, but you’ve to promise me you’ll just let me tell you the whole story without interrupting me.” She ran her hands along the table top, she seemed sad. “And I want you to know that any decisions I made, I made because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

Aaron nodded with a dry mouth, nerves settling low into his belly. He suddenly stood up, needing to move. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear the truth. All this secrecy had made him unbelievably scared of what he was going to hear, not caring whether it was logical fear or not. “Let me get us a drink first,” Aaron muttered heartedly.

He slipped behind the bar and poured two beers. His legs felt heavy as returned to the table with the glasses in his hands. He placed one of them in front of Chas before he sat back down opposite of her.  
Chas grabbed the glass and drained half of it in one go. It seemed Aaron wasn’t the only one who could use some courage. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve before she settled her eyes and full attention on Aaron.

She was absently playing with her glass when she started speaking. “I don’t know where I should begin,” she said with a distant, grim smile. “I only know my side of the story and the truth is that even after all these years I’m still left with more questions than answers.” She took a deep breath. “But what I do know is that the whole mess started with your father.”

Aaron blinked his eyes in confusion. “Gordon? But I thought he died…” Realization hit Aaron and his voice faltered.

Chas nodded, grasping Aaron’s train of thought easily. “Sixteen years ago yeah.”

“But he died in a car crash. You said so yourself.”

Chas looked down in shame, her cheeks pink. “I lied,” Chas said honestly, her voice harsh. She raised her hand before Aaron could talk. “You promised not to interrupt me.” Aaron closed his mouth again, gritting his teeth. “And he did die,” Chas continued. “Just not in a car crash.”

Aaron released his bated breath through clenched teeth. There was so much he wanted to say, but he managed to hold in every word. This truth was like a punch to the gut and he could feel the anger boiling, but if he wanted to hear the rest he needed to keep quiet. So instead he pushed the nails of his fingers into the meat of his hand and pursed his lips.

Chas didn’t even look at him anymore, lost in memories of a long passed past. “I don’t know how much you remember of your father, but he wasn’t an easy man. The year you turned seven was particularly bad. I’d lost my job and though I’d been looking for a new job for weeks, no one seemed to want to hire me. We were slowly running out of money and back then I was too proud to ask for help from my family.”

Aaron couldn’t suppress a small smile despite his anger, she hadn’t changed one bit.

“Gordon had been a mess ever since his father threw him out of the family company a year before. His drinking habits had grown progressively worse over the months, but despite my better judgement I didn’t leave him. I remembered the person I’d first fallen in love with and I didn’t want you to grow up without a father.”

She sighed and paused for a moment, draining most of her beer. Aaron couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. She had never told him any of this and he could barely imagine how horrible it must have been. He could remember some of that year, but it had been too long ago and he’d been too young to understand what had been going on.

“One evening I came home after another day of looking for a job and I found him passed out on the couch, an empty bottle of whiskey next to him on the floor, having used the last of our money to buy himself alcohol. I went looking for you and found you locked up in your bedroom. There was a big bruise covering the right side of your face and I knew he’d finally done the unthinkable.” Her voice was soft as she spoke, her eyes filled with unpleasant memories. “I grabbed some of our stuff and took off immediately, taking you to my mother.”

Aaron’s chest was filled with grief and anger, but by now it wasn’t directed at his mother anymore but at his horrible father. He knew Gordon hadn’t been an easy person, but he hadn’t known he’d been this bad. There was so much he wanted to say, but he knew it was better to just let her talk on.

“You’ve no idea how angry I was Aaron. I was filled with rage that just wouldn’t cool down so I took off as soon as you fell asleep.” She looked up at Aaron, her eyes sad, but he could still see the fire burning, even after all these years the memories filled her with anger. “I wanted him to die, I needed him to die. So I took my car and drove towards Home Farm.”

Aaron couldn’t stop the gasp that left his mouth when he realized what his mother intentions had been, why she knew Robert.

Chas rubbed a hand across her arms, shivering lightly. "No one had ever met the family that lived in that house, but we’d all heard the stories, the whispers about a vampire family living there. But some of those stories, told late at night when the children were asleep, told an even darker story, a story about a bounty hunter living there. A vampire that was willing to kill anyone if you could pay the right amount.”

Aaron’s heart was pulsing against his chest in horror. He was slowly coming to realize what his mother had done, what Robert had done.

His mother’s voice was shaking when she talked on: “You’ve to understand that I wasn’t thinking straight Aaron, I was desperate and didn’t know what else to do.” She didn’t look at him anymore, her eyes dark. “I knocked on the door, scared but determined to achieve what I came for. The door was opened by a blond-haired man. The moment he opened the door I knew the stories were right and he was a vampire indeed. It was the first time I ever encountered one and I was shaking on my legs. He invited me inside, but I refused and told him what I wanted.”

“At first he refused to do what I asked, saying there was no way I had the money to pay for it, so I explained why I needed Gordon to be erased from our lives, I think I was crying at that point, and though I still don’t know why, he listened to my words. Once I was done explaining things, he said he would see what he could do for me. We discussed terms before he closed the door and I walked back to my car.”

Aaron was staring at his mother with a blank mind, almost incapable of understanding what decision she’d made. “But-”

His mother shook her head, stilling his words. “I’m not done yet,” she muttered softly. It was completely silent in the pub, except for the soft sound of his mother’s voice. “I got in my car and drove to the nearest town to get wasted, wanting to forget everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. At end of the afternoon I woke up in my car and drove back to my mother’s, sick to my stomach, deciding that I was gonna go back to the vampire’s to call of the deal I made, but I wanted to see you first.”

She swallowed roughly and Aaron pushed his beer towards his mother. She accepted it gratefully and downed some of it. “But I had underestimated Gordon and when I arrived at my mother’s house, you were gone. I hadn’t told my mother what was going on because I was too ashamed, so when Gordon came to pick you up in the morning, she didn’t stop him.” At this point Aaron could see the tears burning behind Chas’ eyes and he could feel himself choking up a bit, knowing how scared and desperate she must have been. “I tried looking for you and Gordon, but you were nowhere to be found.”

At this point she fell silent. Aaron could tell that Chas was overwhelmed with emotions, a few tears running down her cheeks. He knew she needed some comfort right now, but he couldn’t make himself touch her, comfort her. Not after everything she’d told him. “Why didn’t you call the police?” he asked, his voice rough and low.

Chas smiled sadly. “We did and although they promised to do whatever they could, I didn’t have much faith. The war between the vampires and humans was at its worst back then and the harsh truth was that the police force had more important things to do then look for a missing child.”

Aaron curled his fingers together. He tried to remember that time, but it was like there was some black hole inside of his brain because he literally couldn’t remember any of it. Chas’ story was completely new to him. “So what did you do?” he asked softly.

“The vampire had given me his number so I called Robert to tell him that Gordon had taken you and that he needed to hurry.”

Chas sighed and leaned her head in one of her hands, she seemed exhausted. “Truth is I don’t know what happened in those next few days, I didn’t hear from Robert or Gordon, but on the third day Robert came back home, carrying you in his arms. You had your arms curled around his neck and your small legs wrapped around his torso. You were holding onto him like he was your life line and you wouldn’t let him go. He murmured some words, touched your forehead and you fell asleep.”

It was the strangest thing to hear his mother tell him about his first meeting with Robert. He’d been seven years old while Robert had been as grown up as he was right now. He couldn’t imagine it, couldn’t imagine being in Robert’s arms while he’d saved him. And presumably killed his father. He wished he remembered, but he didn’t so he’d no idea what he was supposed to think. It all sounded like a very strange dream. Except it wasn’t, it was all real.

Chas bit her lip and took a deep breath. “He handed you over and told me it was over. He told me Gordon was dead.” She finally looked up again, meeting Aaron’s eyes.

He’d never seen his mother look like this before, she looked defeated and broken. Aaron’s chest was tight and he’d a hard time meeting here gaze. Though he could understand why she’d made the decision she made, it was hard to digest that she’d lied to him all this time. Even worse to hear that his father had died by the hands of Robert and that his mother had told him to do so.

“I don’t get it. Where does Chrissie come in, in all of this? And what has any of this to do with what happened in Home Farm?” he asked. It wasn’t the first words lying on his tongue, he wanted to get angry and scream at her, but as he looked at her he knew that he couldn’t, not right now, not when she looked this broken. And he needed to think everything over before he decided about what to feel, because in all honesty he’d no idea what to think. He didn’t care about his father all that much, never had, but that didn’t make any of it okay.

The only thing he knew was that Robert had killed his father, he’d killed his father but at the same time saved Aaron from… Well he’d saved him from something bad. Probably.

Chas stood up from where she’d been sitting and took both of the glasses she’d gulped down. She went over to the bar to refill them. She was silent while she opened the tap and let the beer run into the glasses. Aaron watched her all the while. He barely recognized her. She’d grown ten years older in the last hour. She looked both old and tired. “Chrissie showed up three months later,” Chas muttered, still staring down at the glasses. The beer was running over the rim by now, but Chas didn’t notice and Aaron didn’t care enough to tell her.

“What did she want?” Aaron asked, his voice just as soft. The hairs on his arms were standing on end.

Chas took a deep breath and closed off the tap. When she looked up, her eyes were glimmering with dark emotions. “She wanted to kill you.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was seriously the hardest chapter I ever had to write and I don't even know why. And I know I took forever once again, apologies. I hope you all enjoy :)

Aaron had pushed himself out of his chair before he knew he was going to move at all. “She what?” he almost shouted enraged. “Why? Why would she…” he stammered. He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “What possible reason could she have to want me dead?” he asked. The question sounded way more reasonable than he felt. 

Chas sighed softly before she grabbed both of the glasses she’d just filled and walked over to him. Some of the content spilled onto the floor, but she didn’t seem to notice. She handed him his glass before she plumped down on the couch. 

Aaron stared at her for a few long seconds before he sat back down opposite of her. This time he was the one that drained half his glass in one go. “Tell me,” he snapped when his mother didn’t start talking immediately. 

Chas looked up at him. Her eyes were almost emotionless; it was quite scary. “There’s nothing to tell Aaron.”

“Mom-” Aaron started, but his mother interrupted him. 

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know why she would want you dead. She came into our house in the late evening, she literally walked in and grabbed you before I knew what was happening. All she said was that she needed to kill you. That you deserved to die.” Chas paused, her breath was shallow, like she had a hard time getting the words out of her mouth. “I told you I’m still left with more questions than answers.” She frowned and murmured: “All I know is that…”

“That what?” Aaron whispered, holding his breath in both fear and gloomy curiosity. 

Chas pursed her lips like she had to think about the best way to put it. After a moment she shook her head and stood up all of sudden. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” she said before she turned away. 

She headed towards the backroom, presumably to go to the safety of her bedroom, but Aaron followed her and grabbed her wrist before she could move away. “Wait, you can’t walk away from me right now!”

Aaron knew his grip on her wrist must be painful because every muscle in Aaron’s hand was taut with an tension, but she didn’t try to pull lose or make a sound of discomfort, instead she sighed before she looked up at him. “Never wondered where the scar on your left arm came from?” his mother asked.

Aaron frowned before he let go of his mother to look down at his left arm. For a moment he was confused, but then it dawned on him. “She did this?” he asked, raising his arm so he could pull up his sleeve and look at his arm. The long scar running from his wrist up to his elbow had faded quite nicely over the years, it was barely visible anymore. The scar had been there for so long that he mostly didn’t even notice it anymore. 

Chas nodded. “She ripped open your skin with her nails, wanting to drain your blood, but before she could do it…” Her voice faded away, like she couldn’t bear to form the words. 

Aaron held his breath in anticipation. “What?” he whispered. 

Chas looked down at the floor, like she didn’t want to meet his eyes. She swallowed and said: “Robert saved you a second time.”

The words rang inside of Aaron’s head. “Why would he…….?” Aaron muttered, his voice soft. “Why would he safe me? Why would he care if I died? I’m nobody.” 

Chas shrugged slowly. “I don’t know Aaron. I don’t know why he saved you.” She smiled harshly. “Twice. Why he saved you twice.”

Aaron leaned back against the bar, crossing his arms against his chest. He felt breathless like he’d run a mile. “So what happened? Did he say anything to you?”

His mother shook her head. “He came in just after Chrissie had ripped open your skin. He… He moved so fast I couldn’t see what he did, but he put you in my arms before he dragged the woman outside.” She swallowed and sat down sidelings’ on one of the couches. “He came back not much later, he put you down on the couch and stopped the bleeding.” Chas took in a shuddering breath, before she continued: “Once you had stopped bleeding he moved over to the door and he….”

Aaron waited in silence, looking down at his mother who was staring at her hands, lost in thoughts. 

“He said that my debt had been paid off,” she said eventually. 

Aaron had no idea what to make of that. He wanted to ask her why Robert would do something like that, but it was clear to him that she’d no idea either. So he asked the next best question. “What did you promise him?” Chas looked up at him, clearly confused so he added: “I mean you say your debt had been paid off, what kind of deal did you make when you asked him to kill Gordon?”

Chas shrugged, smiling bitterly. “All he’d said to me was that someday he would come to visit me to collect his debt, I don’t know what he wanted from me.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Everyone knows you shouldn’t make a deal with vampires, but I did it anyway. I was foolish and angry. I know better now.”

Aaron didn’t comment on what she said, right now there was a bitterness inside his chest that made it impossible for him to show her any sympathy or understanding. “How come I don’t remember any of this?” he murmured. 

Chas closed her eyes for a moment, like she’d wished for him not to ask her that. “I asked him to wipe your memory,” she admitted softly. 

Aaron stayed silent, this time truly lost for words. He felt gall rise up in his throat and for a moment it felt like he was going to throw up. Some part of him felt like screaming at his mother because the more she said the more he came to realize how much she’d lied to him for all these years, but mostly he felt incapable of saying anything at all. It felt like his whole childhood had been one big lie. 

Aaron had once read something about certain vampires capable of taking memories, but he’d also read that it was a very rare ability. After everything he’d heard tonight it shouldn’t come as a total surprise that his mother had gone as far as to take his memories, yet this truth hurt most of all. 

Chas took a deep breath before she came to stand in front of him. “Just promise me you stay away from the vampire okay, he’s dangerous,” she said, her voice incisively. 

“Dangerous,” Aaron snarled at his mother. “As far as I can tell he’s the only good guy in this story, he saved my life!”

“He’s a hunter,” his mother countered, her voice raised. “He’s a cold blooded murderer, he killed your father.”

“The father that abused me?!” Aaron hissed back. He shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. “You were the one that killed him mom, you decided he needed to die, don’t pretend you’re any better than Robert.”

“And what? You think I was the only one who asked him to kill someone, he could have killed hundredths of people. I won’t let you go anywhere near him.”

“It’s not your fucking choice whether I go near him or not. Stop acting like you’re some saint, you’re as bad as him, maybe you’re even worse.”

Chas grabbed his arm, her voice desperate. “Aaron please, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And whose fault is that?” Aaron snapped. He narrowed his eyes and added: “Is there still something you’re not telling me?” 

Chas shook her head, almost desperately. “I told you everything I know.”

At that point Aaron decided he was just done, done with the lies, done with his mother. 

Aaron pushed himself from the bar and walked passed her to the table they’d been sitting at. He took the two empty glasses from the table and brought them over to the counter. As soon as he’d put them down he moved towards the backroom. 

“Where are you going?” Chas asked, her voice shaking and soft. “Please just talk to me Aaron.”

Aaron paused, his shoulders and back tense. He didn’t turn around to look at her. “I can’t, not right now. I need to…” he took a deep breath, his throat tight with emotions. “I need to think everything through.” He was choking up, but luckily his mother couldn’t see. He didn’t want her concern right now. At this moment he didn’t want anything to do with her. “It’s quite a lot what you told me. So…” he shrugged his shoulders, not capable of putting his thoughts to words. 

“I’m sorry,” Chas muttered. “About everything.”

His voice was raw when he said: “Yeah.” He walked on before she could say anything else and he headed upstairs immediately. 

He slipped into his bedroom and locked the door behind him. He didn’t want to be disturbed tonight. He took off all of his clothes apart from his t-shirt and boxers and slipped into his bed. The moment he laid down he realized he hadn’t brushed his teeth, but Aaron didn’t care enough to get out of his bed again. 

For a while he just laid there, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. His head was a mess with spinning thoughts. He couldn’t believe any of it was true, but his gut told him all of it had really happened. It was too unreal to be untrue. To think his mother had lied about so many things for such a long time. For the first time in his life he wondered how much you should forgive a person before it was too much. Before you should just stop forgiving them. Because this feeling right now, this thing he was feeling, it felt like too much. This lie was too big and though he could understand her reasoning for lying to him, he just wasn’t sure if he was willing to forgive her. He’d forgiven her for too much already. 

He tried to picture Gordon for a moment, but he’d been dead for a long time and his image had faded over the years. Aaron couldn’t even remember what he looked like anymore. It occurred to him that he didn’t even own one picture of his dad, his mother had made sure that he would be banished out of Aaron’s life in any way she could. After what his mother had told him, Aaron supposed that maybe it was for the best. 

He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. For once he was not dreading the uncontrollable land of his dreams. For once he just wanted to lose himself inside a world where he didn’t have control of his thoughts and emotions. He wanted to lose himself. Badly. Because right now all he could think of was what his mother had done, what Gordon had done, what Robert had done, what even Chrissie had done. 

It was too much. Too much. 

Aaron squeezed his eyes closed, willing himself not to think about anything, willing himself to sleep. 

Of course that didn’t work, the more he tried to make himself fall asleep, the more annoyed he became, which kept him from sleeping. 

Aaron sighed in frustration and rolled back onto his back. He was unbelievably tired yet too caught up in his thoughts to sleep. There had always been one thing, one thought, that had always been capable of making him fall asleep, but after everything Chas had told him, Aaron felt like it was wrong to even think about him. Yet Aaron couldn’t stop himself from giving into the temptation. He let his mind drift to comforting, stark blue eyes. He imagined his figure and his comforting presence and smell. In the past it had been quite hard to create this image, but for the first time he could put a face to the eyes, he could see his golden blond hair, the structure of his strong jaw and his beautiful crooked smile. For the first time it was easy.

Aaron felt comforted immediately, the image of the vampire filling his head. He could almost smell him and feel the comforting touch of his cold hand against his cheek. The same hand that had touched him this evening. 

He fell asleep with the image of Robert at the forefront of his mind. 

xXx

When he reopened his eyes he found himself in an impervious darkness. 

Something was calling for him. Like it needed help, from him. He couldn’t understand what the voice was saying, yet Aaron knew he needed to get there, knew that he needed to offer his help. He knew that every second was valuable right now. 

But how could he offer his help when he was lost himself? Lost inside this darkness. It almost felt like it was pressing upon him, like he just had to reach out his hand and he would be able to feel the blackness crawl across his arm. But when Aaron looked down at his hands, he realized he couldn’t even see his own body anymore. Where his body should have been, was only darkness. 

How did he end up here? Shouldn’t he be lying in his bed? Aaron recalled stepping into his bed not long ago, yet it might as well be ages ago. Time didn’t seem real here. And maybe that was it, maybe he was lying in his bed and this was just some strange dream. It probably was, it was so dark that he couldn't see a thing, stuff like that didn't happen if you were awake. 

For some reason he wasn’t afraid. It felt like he should be afraid, because there weren’t many more frightened things than being lost in some overpowering darkness. But Aaron knew for sure that he’d no reason to be frightened, he just knew that he was safe here. He'd never felt frightened of the dark. He'd always found it quite comforting. Peaceful. 

Aaron heard another cry for help and all thoughts left his head as he started running. He needed to get to that voice as soon as possible. He didn’t know why, but it felt like somebody’s life was hanging in the balance, an important life. 

He couldn't see where he was going so he just hoped for the best, just went with his gut. It seemed his body sensed where it needed to go because the calling got louder and louder which meant he was getting closer to his destination. 

He was almost there when the sound suddenly disappeared, leaving Aaron in an eerie silence. His feet stopped moving when they lost their sense of direction and for the first time Aaron started to feel something close to panic. 

Something cold grabbed his arm from behind him and Aaron screamed out in fear, trying to pull himself loose. 

His eyes flew open when the adrenaline and fear erased the daze from his head and the darkness disappeared from his eyes. After blinking a few times Aaron realized he found himself standing in some dark unfamiliar room. “What…?” he stammered. 

It took a second before Aaron became aware again of the hand holding his arm. Aaron opened his mouth to cry out in panic when he heard a familiar voice. “Aaron it’s me. Is everything okay? What are you doing here?”

Aaron turned around and almost fell over with the fastness of his movements, Robert’s hand on his shoulder was the only thing that kept him upright. “Where the hell am I?” Aaron asked bewildered, his eyes flying through the unfamiliar room before coming to rest on the vampire’s face. The last thing he could remember was that he’d gone to sleep in his own bed, how on earth did he end up here? 

Robert frowned down at him, his eyes showing a hint of worry. His voice was both soft and careful when he said: “You’re inside my house.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here, chapter 10!!! Have fun reading, I've really enjoyed writing this one ;)

The first thing that slipped through Aaron's head was how empty and dark Robert's house looked. The room in which they were standing was completely void of furniture, except for a couch against the far wall.

"Your house?" Aaron muttered, his mind one big mess. "How did I end up here?"

Robert looked down at him, the concern still clear in his eyes. "I don't know Aaron, I found you at my doorstep. As soon as I opened the front door you just walked in." He narrowed his eyes. "You don't remember any of this?"

Aaron shook his head carefully. "I don't remember anything after going to bed. I was just dreaming. How..." Aaron's voice faltered as a thought came to him. He didn’t know why he hadn’t spared a second thought on this before, on the first time he met Robert. Because the exact same thing had happened on that day. That night he'd been sleeping as well when he suddenly found himself at Robert’s house. Aaron silently cursed himself for forgetting about it. "Fuck this also happened the first time I met you. I just forgot about it because of everything else. What's happening to me?" He wondered out loud, unsure if this occurrence should scare him or not.

Robert watched him with inscrutable look on his face. "I don't know," Robert admitted honestly. "If I knew I would tell you."

Aaron nodded, sensing that Robert was speaking the truth. "I dreamt about someone being in some sort of danger. It seemed really important, like someone's life was hanging in the balance." Aaron almost felt embarrassed to ask, but he needed to be sure. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Robert said, sounding distracted. He glanced over his shoulder, like he was listening to something, before he returned his attention to Aaron. "Are you okay to go back home?"

"Why? Do you have company?" Aaron asked, raising his eyebrows, noting for the first time how dishevelled Robert looked. When Robert didn’t answer immediately and looked rather uncomfortable, Aaron knew he'd guessed correctly. Aaron was surprised at the pang of jealousy he felt at the thought of Robert being with another man or woman. Aaron squeezed his eyes closed for a second or two before he sighed and opened them again. "Right, I should go," he muttered.

He started to turn so he could leave, but Robert stepped in front of him. "It's not what you think," he said hastily as he ran a hand through his hair. It made Aaron wonder if the vampire would have blushed if he'd been capable of doing so.

Aaron huffed out a breath. "You don't know what I think," he said, rather distraught. What was it about Robert that made him get under Aaron's skin like this? Everything Robert did or said seemed to be some kind of stupid trigger for Aaron.

"Maybe I don't," Robert admitted with a quick, _breathtaking_ smile. "But I do care about what you think, so..." He shrugged half-heartedly. "You're right about someone being here, but it's not about sex... It's..." Robert looked rather sheepish. "I was feeding."

"Oh," Aaron muttered blankly before Robert's words got through to him. " _Oh, oh_ right yeah, of course." _Feeding, he'd being drinking someone's blood._ Aaron ran his hand across the back of his neck, feeling unbelievably awkward. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Robert pushed his lips together, like he'd to hold back a smile. "It's fine Aaron."

A shiver ran down Aaron's spine at the way Robert said his name. Maybe he should feel more disturbed by the fact that Robert had been feeding, and a small part of him was, but mostly he was relieved to know that Robert hadn't been with anyone." You don't want him to be with anyone else because you want him to be with you, a little voice at the back of his brain told him. Aaron pushed the thought down. "So you picked someone up at the blood bank or something?" Aaron asked, because he'd to say something, not because he actually wanted to know. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted Robert to tell him anything about this part of his life.

"It's not quite that easy," Robert said with a small grin. "But I'll spare you the boring details. And don't worry Aaron, she's here on her own free will and she will walk out of here feeling just fine."

Aaron couldn’t help but roll his eyes. "Great," he murmured.

Robert talked on as if Aaron hadn't spoken at all. "Being fed on, arouses a great deal of pleasures within humans, I've been told many times that there's nothing quite like it."

Aaron pushed his hands into the pockets of his jogging pants. It was only then that he realized he wasn’t wearing a jacket and he shivered because of the cold that for some reason he hadn't felt before now. But maybe it wasn’t only because of the cold.

Aaron could feel Robert's eyes drag down the shape of Aaron's body before he said: "You're freezing, let me get you something to wear before you go."

"There's no need for that," Aaron growled almost irritated.

But Robert didn’t listen to him, already moving out of the door. He was back in a matter of seconds, carrying a grey jacket on the lower half of his arm. "Take this," Robert told him, offering the jacket to Aaron, holding out his hand so Aaron could take it.

Aaron reluctantly took the jacket out of Robert's hand and pulled it on after a moment of hesitation. He wanted to refuse, but he really was cold and he didn’t want to go outside like this. The jacket smelled like the vampire, for some unknown reason Aaron felt himself relax as soon as the material hit the bare skin of his lower arms. "Thanks," Aaron said reluctantly. It was a rare thing for him to thank people.

Robert nodded at him with a small smile. "Let's get you home. Do you want me to come with?"

Aaron followed him out of the room and towards the front door. "There's no need for that."

Robert gave him a sideways glance. "I just want to make sure you get home safe."

Aaron pursed his lips together to hold back a smile and gave Robert a playful shove against his shoulder. "I can take care of myself."

The look on Robert's face was thoughtful before he gave in with a sigh. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Aaron ran his hand along the seam of Robert's jacket, it felt unbelievably comfortable against his skin. He was pretty sure it had cost a fortune. "You sure you're not gonna miss this?"

"I've no need for it," Robert answered as he opened the front door. Aaron could hear the amusement in his voice and felt stupid for asking.

Aaron passed Robert and stepped outside into the cold. He turned around and smiled up at the vampire intending to tell him goodbye, but his words got stuck in his throat when he caught the look on Robert's face. "What?" he whispered.

Robert looked at him with a serious expression on his face. "Did you talk to your mother?"

Aaron gulped as last night's talk came back to him. For a few blissful moments he'd forgotten about everything she'd told him. "I did," he admitted in a soft voice. "She told me everything that happened."

Some emotion passed over Robert's face, but it was gone before Aaron had the chance to make it out. The vampire curled his arms together and leaned with his left side against the doorpost. "I'm sorry about your-."

"Don't..." Aaron cut him off. He rubbed a hand across his forehead, not looking at Robert. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Robert nodded, to show he understood.

It was silent for a long time and Aaron wondered if he should just leave, but instead of doing so he found words leaving his mouth. "She lied to me all this time." Aaron curled his hands into fist. "And I get why, but it just really..." His voice faded away, he felt incapable of voicing his emotions.

"Hurts?" Robert finished for him, his voice questioning.

Aaron nodded with a rough movement of his head. He didn’t like to admit that someone had managed to hurt him, he didn’t like to show other people his weaknesses, but for once he didn’t mind someone knowing about what was going on in his head.

Robert stepped down, outside, like Aaron, and Aaron couldn’t stop himself from following Robert with his eyes. The vampire moved slow and careful, like Aaron was a startled animal he didn’t want to frighten. He came to stand a few inches away from Aaron, Aaron just had to move his hand a little and he would graze the fabric of Robert's shirt.

Aaron tipped his head back so he could meet Robert's eyes. Robert's eyes were dark yet soft as he gazed down at him. "What are you doing?" Aaron murmured, his voice barely there.

"Tell me to stop," Robert commanded him softly, his eyes dropping down to Aaron's lips. The edge of his fingertips grazed Aaron's jaw.

Aaron's heart was hammering against his chest, his breathing erratic. He knew that he couldn’t stop this, didn’t want to. Aaron opened his mouth, one word finding its way outside: "No..."

Robert's mouth was on his before he'd the chance to say anything else. One of his hands curved around the back of Aaron's neck, pulling him closer. Robert's lips were soft against his yet he kissed Aaron with a barely hold back desperation.

Aaron couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, all he could feel was Robert pressed against him, his arms curled safely around Aaron. It made him feel protected. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Robert ran his tongue across Aaron's lower lip and for a second Aaron thought that Robert would deepen the kiss, but instead he pulled back. Aaron couldn’t stop the soft protest that left his lips.

When Aaron managed to open his eyes he found Robert looking at him with eyes that were dark with desire. "You should go," Robert growled, his voice low and rough.

Aaron blinked up at Robert, his mind dazed, his mouth still tingling because of the kiss. "Robert-"

"Go," Robert repeated, his voice holding a warning Aaron didn’t quite understand. So Aaron blinked the haze from his eyes and took a better look at the vampire. Robert looked like he was on the edge of losing control, like it took everything inside of him to hold himself back. Back from devouring Aaron.

Aaron, finally understanding the danger he was in, nodded and turned around, walking in the direction of his home. The beating of his heart seemed out of control. When he dared to look over his shoulder a few feet later, he found Robert staring after him, his body barely visible in the dark shadows of the night.

Aaron wasn’t sure whether he was disappointed or relieved that Robert had strong self-control.


	11. First interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for everyone who's been waiting for an update, I can't even remember the last time I posted a new chapter... I KNOW I SUCK! Anyways you finally get a chapter from Robert's point of view :) Enjoy! And thank you for your patience <33

Robert watched Aaron fade into the darkness, his sharp eyes could follow him way longer than any human could. He could still smell Aaron, could still feel his warmth where he'd been pressed up against Robert's cold body. Desire was thrumming through him. The need to go after Aaron was almost too strong to fight. Aaron didn’t know how good he smelled, how much Robert lusted after his blood, but more importantly after him. If Aaron had been any other person he would have seduced him already, taken him into his bed and drank his blood. But Aaron wasn’t any other person, he deserved much more than that. But god knew it was hard to hold himself back, especially when he was on the edge like he was right now. 

Robert knew Aaron hadn't seen in it in the dark, but his eyes had darkened with his strong desire for blood. His fangs had started to get out while they'd kissed, which had been the only reason he'd been capable of pulling himself back. He didn’t want to scare Aaron off and he definitely would have. 

Maybe he shouldn't have kissed him at all, but he'd been holding himself back long enough already. He didn’t have endless self-control, even though he liked to think so. 

Robert heard some sounds from inside the house so he pulled his eyes away from where Aaron had long since disappeared and moved back inside. His feet took him upstairs and into the bedroom within seconds. 

Two pair of familiar eyes stared at him with curious expressions. 

"I don't know who I was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t it," a female voice drawled. 

"He doesn’t look like your usual type at all," the voice of the man agreed with a snicker. 

"Shut up," Robert growled, feeling protective all of a sudden as he looked at the grinning faces of his siblings. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here," he added, changing the subject quickly before they had the chance to ask him any questions. 

He'd lied to Aaron. He hadn't been feeding at all, though he really needed to, the bloodlust was taking away his self-control and his common sense, but it had to wait. First he'd to deal with his two unwelcome and unwanted visitors. He'd known it would only be a matter of time before they figured out where he'd gone, but he'd hoped it would’ve taken them longer to find him. It was rather unfortunate when he'd found them lounging in his chambers when he'd arrived home an hour ago. 

Victoria grinned as she stepped into the light, towards her brother. "No, no, no. You're not getting out of this so easily. You owe us an explanation." 

Andy, who was still sitting on the edge of Robert's bed, agreed with his sister. "Yes Robert, is that boy we just saw really the reason you moved here? I thought you had better taste than that." 

Robert couldn’t keep back the growl that left his mouth at Andy's words. "You don't know him at all, you've no right to judge him," Robert hissed, his voice low and filled with anger. He could barely keep himself back from flinging himself at Andy. He'd no right to talk about Aaron like that. They didn’t understand, didn’t know what he meant to Robert. 

Andy and Victoria exchanged a worried look before Victoria raised her hands as a peace offering. "You're right, we don't." For a moment she lowered her eyes and bit her lip like she was afraid to speak what was on her mind. "I just need to be sure Robert. We both do." She sighed and lifted her head, like she had found the courage to say what was on her mind or maybe because she felt obliged to ask him. "Is he really worth it? Because we both know what you're planning and we just need to be sure that you're not going to do something you will regret in the future." 

Andy finally pushed himself off of the bed to come stand next to his sister. "We're not judging you Robert, we just need to know that you're not making a big mistake. We've been family for a very long time and we don't want to lose you." 

"I'm sure about what I'm doing," Robert spoke carefully. He didn’t want to give too much away, not even to his siblings. They may have figured out some of his intentions, but they didn’t know all of it and he liked to keep it that way. "He's worth it." 

His brother and sister exchanged another look. It was quite annoying to be honest, it always made him feel like the third wheel. "Alright," Victoria said softly. "But then there's something you should know." 

"Sure," Robert muttered. He was mostly taken aback by the fact that they didn’t fight him on this, on his decision. He'd expected them to react differently. He'd expected them to get angry with him and try to change his mind, but instead they both looked at him like they, grudgingly, accepted his decision. 

Victoria ran a hand through her long hair. She didn’t look pleased at all. "Chrissie came by 6 weeks ago, looking for you," her voice was heavy, like she was reliving an unpleasant memory. "We didn’t tell her anything, we didn’t know anything, so she left, but a few days later she came back. She kept talking about how you were breaking every vampire law rule there is and that she would find a way to stop you, since we hadn't bothered to do it." 

Andy licked his lips and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "She's coming for you." 

Robert sighed and leaned back against the wall. "So?" he asked, his tone low and bored. 

Andy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So? She's looking for you Robert and she will find you eventually. I’m surprised she hasn’t found you already. We all know what she's capable of." 

Robert couldn’t hold back a snicker. "She already came by to see me. You could have saved yourself a trip because all of this is old information. And Chrissie doesn’t scare me." He pushed himself of the wall and casually made his way over to the door. "Both of you feel free to leave, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I've important matters I need to attend to." 

"There is something else," Victoria said carefully 

"What is it?" Robert asked, pausing in the door opening. He didn’t like the sound of her voice, she sounded unsure, almost scared. 

There was a pause before Victoria spoke again. "Lawrence found out you and Chrissie are no longer together. He's out for your blood, Robert and once he finds out about Aaron..." Robert turned back around to look at his sister, his whole body tense with anger, but most of all fear. Victoria inhaled sharply at the look in his eyes before she finished her sentence, her voice as quiet as a whisper. "Well, we both know what he will do to him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy writing clifhangers way too much. EVIL LAUGHTER. ;) And for anyone who's wondering, Victoria and Andy are both vampires. I'm slowly gonna reveal more about Robert's past! 
> 
> No promises, but I'll try to be a bit quicker with the next update. Thanks for reading, it means a lot! <333 
> 
> You can find me on hayfieldmc.tumblr.com


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